Into Remnant: Reimagined
by HarrowedWriter
Summary: I grew up thinking I was just a normal wanna-be huntsmen. That lasted all of five minutes when Ozpin got involved and told me I'm magic. Now I'm suddenly an important piece in an ancient power struggle. And on top of all that, a cute robot won't stop stalking me. A/T: Humor, Drama, Friendship, Fantasy.
1. Magical Beacon

_A/N: As the description says, this is a rework of a story I realized wasn't all that interesting. The old one is still up on my profile, if you want to see it. For now, enjoy the story!_

* * *

When I was little, my mom told me all sorts of bedtime stories. All sorts of stories of good and evil, kings and queens, princesses and pirates.

There is one, however, that I remember vividly to this day.

There once was a mighty warrior, in a time when the Gods walked the earth and mankind shared in their bounties. He stood against all darkness and vanquished all who meant to threaten peace. One day, however, the warrior was almost defeated in battle by an evil warrior queen who could channel one's greatest fears into living monstrosities.

It was only through courage, bravery, and a resolve of iron that the hero eventually banished the evil. My mother claims the queen's evil beasts of fear are still around, as Grimm, but if you face your fears with a smile and bravery, you will always beat them.

The story replayed in my head as my mother parked the car. Through the windshield I could see the corded transport that would carry me away to Beacon Academy for the final interview of my application process.

"Well, Alder, this is it. Your big day!" my mom said, as she turned toward me and wiped a smudge off my face.

I was naturally fairly annoyed and I waved her off gently. "You don't need to do that mom. I'm seventeen."

"You're still my baby, so I'm going to do it."

I frowned as I used the car mirror to look over myself.

Light brown hair with highlights of platinum blonde fell over the tops of my ears and covered my forehead. It contrasted my olive skin fairly well, and my dark blue eyes betrayed the anxiety I had over this meeting.

"You'll do fine, honey. Trust me."

"I hope so."

"Good luck," she said, kissing me on the cheek.

After that, I got out and headed for the transport.

* * *

A tall, blonde woman waited for me at the entrance to Beacon. She wore a button-up dress shirt and a pencil-skirt.

"You are Mr. Saar, correct?" Her speech was prim and proper, and it wasn't hard to imagine she was the 'strictly business' type of person.

"Yes ma'am, Alder Saar at your service."

"Good. Follow me. The headmaster is waiting."

During the short walk, the woman introduced herself as Glynda, the assistant to the headmaster and second in command of all Beacon related affairs.

She ended up having a few things to say about me, as well.

"Your transcripts seem up to standards, and your instructors had praise for your ability. Your Semblance is rather broad, is it not?"

Ah, yes… My 'Semblance'.

"T-That's right."

Ever since I was young, I knew I didn't have a semblance. At least, not the normal kind.

It started with small things. I could ignite or extinguish candles, so I thought maybe my Semblance was fire control.

Then I was able to lift things off the ground with my mind, and I started to wonder if there was something else going on.

Sometimes, when I least expected it, strange things would happen around me. Everything from doors slamming shut on their own to the one time a wooden chair turned into a beanbag chair.

Then last week happened…

I shook off the thought, as we soon arrived at the Headmaster's office.

Glynda called into the office as she opened the doors, "Headmaster Ozpin, the applicant you requested is here."

Ozpin was sitting at a large oak desk. On the desk was a silver tray with two cups of coffee, sugar cubes, and some small baked confections.

"Very good, Glynda."

An ancient, antique feeling permeated the room. Hundreds of thousands of books lined the walls, and various technological marvels littered the room, offering a confusing mix of past and present.

With that, Glynda left the room, and I was left to clear the space.

Once I got to the chair, I waited instead of taking a seat.

"Take a seat, Mr. Alder."

I quickly seated myself.

"I'm sure Glynda already told you, but we don't schedule one on one interviews with everyone."

"Er...Yes, she did."

"Good. Do you have any idea why I've asked to see you personally?"

Looking around the room, I rubbed my arm. "N-No idea sir."

Ozpin took out a scroll and turned it towards me, and what I saw made my heart drop.

The footage showed me, walking along the road, when suddenly a thug stepped out from an alleyway and pointed a gun at me.

There was no sound but I remember him asking me for my money, and I panicked.

I tend to lose control of my powers when I panic, and it's how I've discovered new abilities up to this point.

As I freaked out, I raised my hands in an attempt to surrender, only to accidentally send a powerful gust of wind with the motion that sent him into the wall.

"Tha-That's just my semblance!"

Ozpin flipped to another piece of footage, this time of me at my bedroom window, lighting a candle with my power.

...And another, of me boredly dancing streams of energy around in the air in my backyard porch.

I felt a serious chill going down my spine as I realized Ozpin had been watching me even when I thought I was alone at home.

Just how much of my life had he seen?

Ozpin put the scroll down and leaned forward. I could see his eyes over his specs, looking at me.

"We've been watching you for a long time now, Mr. Alder."

I swallowed a lump in my throat, "Ah...Look, I don't know anything about this stuff… I was born with it."

Ozpin gestured to the coffee on the table., "Relax, young man. You're not in any trouble. Have a drink, take a cupcake."

Steadying my breathing, I reached out and took a cupcake, biting into it.

I had to admit, it did make me feel better.

"Now," Ozpin continued, "I have to wonder, how did you know to hide this from people?"

My gaze turned to the side as I swallowed a piece of cupcake. "Well… I don't have a lot of control over it, and it's clearly not normal. When I was younger, I hid it because I was afraid of getting bullied for it. It just… Became a habit, after that."

Ozpin stirred his coffee. "You were very luck, whether you knew it or not, young man. I know what this power of yours is."

I ran a hand over my face and leaned forward, suddenly forgetting about the cupcake, "You do?"

"Yes. Let me ask, are you aware of the legend of the Maidens?"

It was at that moment that I became keenly aware of just how quiet this room was. No ambient noise… Just Ozpin and I.

"I'm aware. The four maidens are said to represent the four seasons. It's just a myth."

Ozpin took a sip of coffee. "Now, Mr. Alder. What I'm going to tell you is a matter of utmost secrecy. In divulging this information to you, you will become a part of a very small group of people who are all similarly sworn to secrecy."

There was a hard edge to his voice that made me shudder. "Why tell me anything? I'm just… Me."

He chuckled. "Yes yes. You are you, Mr. Alder. Unfortunately, that is exactly why you need to be told."

Ozpin turned his chair away from me and stood up.

There was a giant window overlooking all of Beacon from here, and he took in the sight for a moment before closing what appeared to be metal shutters.

Then, he turned to me. "Today you will become privy to a lot of information. Information that I only divulge to you because leaving you in the dark would leave you vulnerable to entities that wish for nothing more than your death or subservience. Am I clear?"

The temperature of the room seemed to drop with the closing of the shutters, and I became keenly aware of goosebumps forming on my arms.

"Ah...Uhm… Yes?"

"Good." Ozpin returned to his seat.

After a few painful moments of Ozpin swishing coffee around in his cup, he looked directly at me. "The Maidens are not a myth. They are very real."

My eyes widened and I leaned back into my chair, the information took a number of minutes to proccess. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I'm getting there, Mr. Saar."

Ozpin began again after my shock abated. "The Maidens have access to all the powers from the myths. You know it to be 'Magic.' A pure myth, at least, that's what we allow people to think."

"Magic is real, then?" I tried to calm down by taking a sip of coffee.

"Oh yes. The Maidens wield it with great power. And so, in time, will you."

That prompted me to choke on my coffee, and with some effort and a minute of Ozpin staring into my soul, I managed to get it down.

"I'm a Maiden?!"

Ozpin smiled, "No. You're something… Unique. You have access to the unbridled power of magic. For what reason, I am not fully aware."

The tone of Ozpin's voice led me to believe there was something he wasn't telling me, but who was I to push the topic? He was already telling me so much.

"So… I have magic. What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that there are those in the world who will want to kill you. Those who will want to use you, and it means that there are going to be people who pretend to be your friends to get to you and that there are very few people in the world you can really trust."

"Oh…"

"Additionally, one day you will have the power to turn armies of Grimm with one motion. You will be a great protector."

Ozpin smiled again. "But for now, you're the same as your peers. A huntsman in training. I expect you on the airship that takes new students to the academy first thing in the morning. Welcome to Beacon."

My head was spinning and I had so many questions for Ozpin, but he'd clearly said all he was going to say for now.

Carefully, I stood up and nodded. "S-See you then."

Afterward, I found my way out and headed home.

* * *

The next morning, I carried my suitcase onto the airship. My weapon, currently in the form of a large wooden staff, sat on my back.

The airship was chromatic and clean. It seemed to be designed for a compromise between comfort and carry space as there was a large amount of future students milling about.

I noticed a news broadcast going over the weather right now, but I tuned it out and found a spot to stand in.

I didn't have many friends, and none of the people I did really talk to seemed to be on the ship, so I guess they didn't get into Beacon?

Great, starting from scratch I guess.

At least I didn't have to wait long until someone approached me.

"Hi there!"

The girl who approached me was tan and her hair was dark brown with red highlights that reached her ears in a sort of bob. Her eyes were a reddish-purple, shimmering with warm excitement.

She wore a white, long-sleeved shirt that had intermittent belts that wrapped around her person, and her hands were covered by fingerless gloves. Below that, a pair of short shorts that stopped well above her knees.

She was also not very tall, I guessed around a few inches shorter than myself overall.

The most important thing to note in my mind was the two wolf ears on her head. A Faunus.

"Hi." I waved, not really sure what else to say.

"Are you excited?" she asked, grinning. Her canines seemed particularly sharp, like a set of fangs, yet she didn't seem threatening, "I am! This is great! We're going to be huntsmen!"

Under normal circumstances I'd be as brimming with excitement as she was, but given yesterday, that was subdued.

I tried my best to smile so I didn't appear weird. "Yeah, it's really something, huh? Protectors of the world…"

The girl didn't seem to buy it, tilting her head and twitching her ears. "You seem nervous. That's okay! So am I. Name's Sangria." She held out her hand.

I shook it in return. "Alder. Nice to meet you."

Another voice joined. It was a girl, this one's voice was marked with a distinctive country lilt.

"Sangria! Where are you? You didn't run off, did you?"

Sangria turned around towards the source of the voice, "Over here Marigold!"

Through the crowd came a girl about Sangria's height. She had floofy brown hair cut into a bob much like Sangria did, except her skin was lighter and she had no highlights. She wore a forest-green vest and a long-sleeved dress shirt underneath it, as well as a pair of pants and dress pants. She seemed ready for some important ball more than a huntsman academy.

"There you are! Who's this fellow?" She immediately struck me as the prim and proper type, carrying herself with a straight back and a proper tone when addressing me.

"Alder! He was standing here all alone so I figured I'd make a new friend!"

She looked me over. "I see. How is that going?"

"Well, I think!"

I nodded. "Uhh, yeah. Meeting new people is nice, especially when you don't really know anyone else."

Marigold smiled. "Sangria's always looking to make new friends. She's been like that since we were kids."

"So you two have known each other for awhile now, then?"

"Yep," Sangria answered, "since childhood!"

"Lucky you," I responded. "I haven't had contact with anyone I've known since childhood in a long, long time."

Marigold answered, "When Sangria found me she stuck to me," She continued, "We've been friends since kindergarten."

We continued talking for some time, just getting information on each other.

Eventually though, they asked me a question I had been dreading.

"So, what's your Semblance, Alder?" Sangria asked.

"Ah, uhm… Well—"

I was saved by the… Hologram.

Glynda e. "Attention students. You are now arriving at Beacon Academy. Please be ready to gather at the assembly hall for a speech from Headmaster Ozpin."

Sangria's ears perked up. "Oh! Come on, Marigold, we need to get our stuff. We'll see you later, Alder, we'll talk more then!"

They ran off without giving me much of a chance to say anything and so I was left to pick up my luggage and get ready to depart.

* * *

As I stepped off the airship, I took in the full scope of Beacon academy and its grand architecture while simultaneously walking forward to head towards the assembly hall.

This, as it turned out, was a bad idea, as I ended up crashing into someone and sending us both to the ground.

"Ow…"

It was a guy, and as I used my staff to stand, I was able to get a better look at him.

He had blonde hair and wore white armor, but beyond that he seemed totally unremarkable.

My suitcase was on the ground, so I was able to offer a hand, "Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's alright." He accepted my offer, "Guess I should watch where I was going… I was too busy looking at that girl."

"Which?"

"Her, she's so beautiful!" He pointed over my head, and I was made aware of just how tall he was as I turned towards the object of his affection.

It was a white haired girl, ordering around what looked to be a servant who was pushing a cart full of suitcases.

"Doesn't she seem a bit… Snobbish?"

"Yeah, but that's part of the appeal!"

...What an odd fellow.

"...Right. Well, my name's Alder, it's nice to meet you."

"Jaune, likewise. Now I'm gonna go talk to-"

Before he could go approach the white haired girl, another girl crashed into her, sending all the suitcases scattering and what looked to be dust containers going all over the place.

Well, that looked dangerous.

"You have fun with that."

I promptly excused myself from the goings on and walked towards the assembly room.

On my way there I heard an explosion, but nobody seemed all that freaked out by it, so I ignored it as well.

[...]

I wish I could say anything interesting happened during the rest of the day, but it really didn't, and the night was no different either.

Maybe I just wasn't that talkative or maybe I smelled bad or something, but I didn't really get to talk to anyone.

The next morning I and a few others found ourselves at a set of launching pads over a massive forest as Ozpin went over the instructions.

The first person you make eye contact with is your partner, you and your partner need to find some 'relics' and make it back to the headmaster. If your aura is brought to nothing, you will be saved but ejected from Beacon.

Also the partners were for the entirety of our time at Beacon.

Great. I hope I don't get some lunatic.

...And then we were catapulted into the air.

I didn't really have much time to see how everyone else was going to handle the landing, nor did I really think much at all, as I flailed my way through the air.

Shit, shit, shit!

I was magic! Wasn't I supposed to be able to levitate or- fly, or something?!

The trees were rapidly approaching as I flailed around.

Come on, just think of floating! Like a cloud, or a bird, or a bug!

As I tried to concentrate, I began to feel myself actually getting lighter, and I actually managed to slow down!

I was fully stopped just a few feet off the ground.

"Now, how do I land-"

To answer my question, my levitation kicked off and I was dropped on the ground.

"OOF! Ow…"

After a moment eating the dirt, I picked myself off the ground shakily, once more using my staff to balance myself.

As I looked around, I noticed how serene the forest seemed to be.

The birds were singing, the flowers were blooming…

Nothing could break the peace, I felt.

...And was promptly proven wrong as something massive landed a few feet in front of me, causing a small crater and kicking up so much dust I had to cover my face and rely on my staff to stop from falling over.

"Gods! What the hell?" I exclaimed loudly.

Was this Grimm?! Was I already in a fight?

Then, a deep male voice called to me, "Apologies, comrade! I didn't mean to land so close to someone!"

As the dust cleared, I saw a hulking figure in bright blue armor that covered them from head to toe.

The armor seems to have been what caused the crater, but as they stood I wouldn't be surprised if they themselves could cause it without the armor.

They stood to their full height, and the armor began to dissipate as if it was never there, and my jaw dropped.

The person in front of me stood at almost seven feet tall by my estimation, and was built like someone who wrestled Beowulfs for a living. With bright blue hair and matching eyes shining for courage, I almost missed the massive axe on their back.

They grinned at me, "Nice to meet you, partner! I am Cobalt, at your service."

I picked up my jaw and shook off the dust from my clothes, "Alder… Nice to meet you."

"A glorious name! Now, we shouldn't waste time standing around. There are relics to find!"

"Right," I was starting to get my bearings anyway, "Let's go!"

Before we could get very far, we heard a deep, guttural growling coming from the trees nearby. Yellow eyes glared in our direction, and Cobalt immediately shrugged off his greataxe from his back.

The Greataxe was a unique looking weapon. It seemed specially crafted, with a long handle and a blade about as big as my head. It was easily as tall as me, and I had no earthly idea how Cobalt was able to hold it so casually.

"Our first opponent! Come on out, coward!"

And the beast responded, coming out roaring was a huge ursa, and it looked rather displeased with us.

I raised my staff and pressed a button on it.

At once, my staff began to transform. The middle expanded outward as the top and bottom retracted and folded.

The transformation turned my humble staff into an automatic crossbow, complete with dust-tipped bolts. My weapon ever since the early academy days.

Cobalt let out a battle cry as he charged and got a good swing at the Ursa as the creature rose to its hind legs, dwarfing even him in size.

It tried to swing at him, but he ducked underneath and started climbing onto the creatures back.

I took this as my que and began to shoot at the creature after loading my crossbow with fire-dust bolts. The creature's stomach began to catch fire as it roared and swatted wildly.

Cobalt, to his credit, held on for awhile, but eventually the bear smashed him into a tree, causing him to let go. He seemed dazed, and thus I was alone against the now on-fire Ursa.

I didn't have time to reload my crossbow, I had expended the bolts I had already, but the dust-mixture wasn't enough to kill it yet!

Panicking, I changed the crossbow back to a staff and held it out while backpedaling to try and ward off the creature.

My panic must have cooked off some sort of magic in me, because a lightning bolt promptly struck the creature and caused it to disintegrate into ash.

"...Damn." I mutter, suddenly feeling tired and sitting against the tree I backed into.

Cobalt groaned, "Ugh… What did I miss? Did we win?" he asked as he stood up.

"Yeah, we did." I managed while catching my breath, "Good work."

"You as well, comrade! Now"-He goes and picks up his fallen axe-"Let's go find those relics."

[...]

It took some time, but we eventually came upon a clearing with an old structure placed in the middle of it.

Cobalt was the first upon the pieces, "It looks like this is the 'relic' and we're the first one's here!"

I came up next to him and looked over all of them.

My eyes fell upon the golden pawn pieces, and I snatched one up, looking it over.

"A pawn?" Cobalt scoffed, "Why not the brave knight, or the pious bishop?"

"My dad has an old saying about chess, 'Underestimate the pawn, and you've already lost.'"

Cobalt thought it over for a minute, before nodding, "I suppose that is wise! Now-"

"Look Blake, there's people here!"

We turned to the source of the voice.

A blonde girl that seemed to be about my height and a slightly shorter long, dark haired girl with a bow were approaching from the forest.

"Greetings!" Cobalt waved as the blonde one arrived and picked up a black knight piece.

"Hey there, names Yang."

"Blake."

Cobalt grinned, "I am Cobalt!"

"Alder."

"Alder, huh?" Yang grined, "And you picked the pawn, sure you don't want an aldernate piece?"

Oh my god.

I facepalmed and turned away while Cobalt laughed along with Yang.

Luckily my shame didn't last long as new people began to fall out of the sky.

Literally.

"YAAAAANNNGGGGG!"

Everyone looked up to see the short haired girl I encountered yesterday, calling to Yang.

Falling from rather extreme heights!

I could stop myself, maybe I could stop her!

Raising my staff while the others were busy watching her fall, I tried to channel the same feeling I did when I was falling.

It was hard to tell, but I thought I saw a gray aura begin to surround her.

I didn't get much time to look however, as my efforts were invalidated as Jaune crashed into her from seemingly out of nowhere, sending them both into the tree.

"...Wasn't that your sister?" Blake asked Yang.

I huffed and took a moment to catch my breath, I really needed to practice this stuff…

Before anyone could really react to Ruby and Jaune, there came a giant Ursa, swinging wildly from the forest.

As we prepared to attack, it was blasted in the back and fell flat, revealing a ginger haired girl and black haired boy had been riding it.

"...Did she just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked, a mixture of deadpan and concern in her voice.

Cobalt leaned over and whispered to me, "This is quite the rogues gallery we have here!"

"Yeah," I mutter, "but where's-"

"HEEY, TWO FOR ONE SPECIAL!" I recognized Sangria's voice.

"Is this the time for jokes?!" Marigold seemed with her.

From the forest, came three people.

Marigold and Sangria were being chased by an angry looking giant mantis with mandibles and claws that looked like it could eat an airship easily.

While a red haired girl was being chased by a deathstalker!

"...I don't even know what to say now." Blake sighs.

Yang reunited with her sister, who seemed to be named Ruby.

Then there was Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, and…

"How could you leave me?!" The white haired girl from yesterday was holding for dear life onto a giant nevermore.

"I said jump!"

...After some banter, the white haired girl was falling!

Okay, round two…

I tried channeling the energy again, and like before a gray aura began to surround the falling girl…

"WEISS, I'VE GOT YOU!" Aand then Jaune leaps out from the tree and grabs Weiss.

For a moment it seemed romantic, with them floating in the air… But I couldn't keep them both up, so the magic failed and I exhaled a huge breath I was holding, leaning against the empty pedestal that held my pawn.

The two of them fell, but it seemed Jaune broke Weiss fall rather nobly with his back.

With all of that, I thought maybe we'd get a minute to rest.

But then I was reminded of the grimm that were surrounding us.

And the girls.

"HEY, THAT'S ALDER! ALLLDEERRR!" Sangria shouted, she and Marigold were running in circles with the Mantis on their trial, "A LITTLE HELP?"

"Hey," I ask out loud, "Do any of you wann-"

It seemed the other two teams were already dealing with problems of their own, as Ruby charged the deathstalker, then promptly ran away, while the Nevermore circled overhead.

"It's just us, comrade!" Cobalt declares, drawing his axe, "Let's go!"

"Well, I guess we're doing this." I pushed off the pedestal and went to help.

However our valiant charge was promptly stopped short as Cobalt leapt at the Mantis and was smacked out of the air.

"Okay, this beast is stronger than I thought!" Cobalt yelled as he sailed past me.

I looked back and saw the other two teams running towards the cliff Ozpin was on.

"Uhh, the others are running!"

Sangria charged past me, this time with Marigold on her back, "Good idea, let's go!"

"We're running, Cobalt!" I yelled as I ran after the other two.

Cobalt started to protest, but got another look at the Mantis charging towards us and promptly followed us, "Tactical retreat! Good idea!"

We all began running towards the broken bridge that was our path to safety.

Before I could get to the bridge, the Mantis stuck one of its claws in front of me, stopping me a few feet from the bridge as I skinned to a halt.

"Uhm, guys! Problem!"

Sangria was the first to come to my aid, lunging forward and stabbing at the mantis' claw with her weapon, a large glaive, before blasting it with what seemed to be a shotgun attachment and sending it reeling back.

Following up was Cobalt and Marigold.

Cobalt leapt in and stabbed at the exoskeleton, prying off a piece of it with his sword and causing the creature to scream out in pain.

Marigold stopped and pointed her Parasol like a rifle, shooting at the creature.

I cast my glance off to where the others were and saw that both other groups were battling the other two Grimm.

It was us against this Mantis.

And it was with that I realized I was still in between the Mantis two arms.

It looked at me and screeched an unholy screech that sent chills down my spine.

Its mouth was open, it looked like it wanted to eat me, so I did the only logical thing.

WHACK!

I smashed it with the wood part of my staff.

That seemed to daze it for a split second, so I fled back before it reoriented itself.

"Think it's giving?!" Sangria asked.

Then the creature smacked her and sent her flying back.

"Guess not!" Cobalt picked up, leaping on the creatures back and hacking at its exoskeleton, "It's hard to pierce this beast's armor!"

Sangria came back with a vengeance, she took out a red vial and tossed it on the creature.

It crashed against it and it covered it.

It looked like… Blood?

Said blood suddenly caught on fire, and the creature began to scream in pain and confusion, swinging wildly.

Marigold unfolded her Parasol and began to spin in. From the parasol, air began to coalesce and form a tornado that lifted the creature in the air, Cobalt proceeding to jump off before it got too high in the air.

Cobalt landed next to me, "Noire! I asked you what your semblance is, comrade, now show us!"

I didn't know what exactly I should do, but I suppose the lightning I did before might be a good trick!

As I called the energy forth from my body, I felt myself getting incredibly exhausted.

I didn't know if I had some kind of upper limit, but I was clearly pushing myself for this.

No turning back now!

This time it seemed to be some kind of gravity ball that shot from my staff, which shattered from the energy I was pulling.

The dark purple ball crashed into the mantis and sent it flying over the ravine, while my compatriots cheered and celebrated.

The world for me, however, began to grow dark.

I became aware of the splinters in my hand and arm from the staff, and soon collapsed on the ground, losing consciousness.

…

I found myself staring down a broken, old throne from an age long forgotten.

A figured covered in inky darkness gazed at me from behind the throne, and for a moment as I stared into its red irises I thought I saw the visage of a beautiful blonde woman, but it was quickly gone.

"Your paastt… Is not what it seems…" The voice hissed as it moved towards me, "He's lyiingg…"

"What… Who are you?" I manage, as I turned my body with the figure, which was circling me like a hungry shark.

"I am...Your kingmaker. I made you… And I can make you rule… Why waste your life protecting those ingrates, who lie to you… When you could rule them?"

"I-I don't understand…"

The figure pointed an inky black, yet bony figure to the throne, "It could be yours… All of it…"

"You… Could… Be…"

"God."

And then the darkness took me again.

[...]

"He's waking up!" A mature woman's voice called.

"G..Glynda?" I managed groggily.

I saw lights overhead.

"Yes, young man. Ozpin is here as well."

On que, my blurry vision was filled with gray, "You gave the other students a big scare back there… I should have warned you about using an inappropriate staff for channeling your magic."

"That… Would have been nice."

My vision began to clear, and I noticed my arm was wrapped in bandages.

"You passed the trial by the way." Ozpin continued, "If you had lost consciousness any earlier I would have had to disqualify you, but you and your new team made it through in one piece and proved to be great additions to my school."

"...Team?"

"Yes, the teams were decided while you were out. You are apart of team Chasm, or CASM. Cobalt, you, Sangria, and Marigold."

"I see." My mind was still in a haze, and the 'dream' I had stuck to me like glue.

"They've already moved into their dorm, and I've made sure your clothes and new uniform were delivered there with them. I have one other thing for you, as well."

I started to pull myself together, and looked at him, "What is it?" I asked, sitting up.

Ozpin grabbed something that was sitting behind the hospital curtain, producing a scepter

The scepter was brown and topped with an emerald gem, metal details, and a floral pattern travelling up towards the gem.

"It's not a crossbow like your old one, but it's specifically designed to be used for magic. I had it made for you while you were gone, as I had foreseen this problem arising. Just not this soon."

Taking the staff, I looked it over, "...Thank you."

"Of course, and I intend to start training you in the art of magic, now that you are a proper student of beacon, and me spending time around you will not raise any eyebrows."

He sure as hell raised my eyebrows when I found out he was spying on me, but I didn't feel like bringing that up.

"Now, you should get to your team, they're very worried about you." He took out a piece of paper and handed the directions to the dorm to me, "Classes begin tomorrow. Good luck, we'll meet again shortly."

And with that, Ozpin and Glynda left, leaving me to gather myself and get moving.

[...]

As I arrived in the dorm, I was met with a crushing group hug.

"ALDER!" Cobalt, Sangria, and Marigold all crushed me.

"Ah- Guys, what the hell?!" 

"We were worried about you, my friend!" Cobalt started, being the first to let me go, "You gave us a scare when you fell over like that."

"Nice scepter! Where'd you get it?" Sangria asked, looking over the scepter in my hand.

"Uhh… A friend of mine came through for me."

"Oooh, spooky." She started, smiling, "Fine then, keep your secrets."

She let go, and so did Marigold.

"I suppose we're a team now," Marigold pushed some of her hair out of her face, "As long as nobody here gets too weird."

I hummed, "Don't expect anything from me." 

Cobalt grinned, "Weird? I am a man of glory!"

Sangria smirked, "You know I'm weird, Marigold."

Marigold rolled her eyes, "Right, well." She looked to the window, and I was made aware of how late it was. "It's late. Maybe we should all get sleeping." 

"I am still exhausted." I comment, starting to walk towards my suitcase lying on one of the beds.

"Alright then! To sleep team, for we have an early morning tomorrow!" Cobalt declared.

So, we all carried out our nightly rituals and soon were all in bed.

I fell asleep too quickly to socialize any longer.


	2. Scholasticate

_A/N: Just a note that while this is listed under 'Romance' I still am not fully certain who to ship Aldar with. If you have an opinion, leave a review or message me directly! Thank you, and enjoy._

* * *

I was awoken by the shrill sound of a trumpet blasting an Atlesian military tune.

"Rise and shine my friends!" Cobalt declared, "It's breakfast time!" Cobalt and Sangria were both up, and fully dressed.

Meanwhile I looked over to where Marigold was and saw her sit up groggily, her hair poofed out easily a good foot away from where it should be.

Sangria hopped into action as she brandished hair taming tools and sat behind Marigold against the wall, starting to fix her hair. Marigold seemed used to this, and sighed in what almost sounded like contentment.

...Cool.

I got out of bed, went through my daily routine, and waited for the others to do the same.

After a bit of waiting around, soon we were all present and accounted for, and Cobalt marched us off to the mess hall.

I think I saw heaven once I entered that building.

The sheer amount of food, _good _food that was available was crazy to me. I don't know why, but I expected the food to be some kind of horrid gruel, but it was so much better than that.

Cobalt got his mountain of pancakes drowned in syrup, while I got some eggs, bacon, and toast. Sangria got an equally sizable mound of pancakes while Marigold settled on a bowl of cereal.

I noticed the others from the trial sitting at the next table over, "Hey, what are their teams called?"

Sangria pointed to the one with Ruby and co. "That's team RWBY. Confusing, I know!" Then she pointed at Jaune and his team, "That's team JNPR."

"Jaune's the leader? Doesn't seem the type to me." I comment.

"That's what we all think, but I believe in him!" Sangria optimistically responded as she speared a pancake piece with her fork, "Professor Ozpin doesn't pick these teams at random!"

I sure hope he didn't.

That reminded me that I'm supposed to meet with him today. I supposed that would be after class.

Marigold broke my train of thought, "So, Alder. We don't really know much about you."

Cobalt nodded in agreement, "That's true! Even I got to introduce myself and tell a bit about myself to the team while you were incapacitated."

Sangria leaned towards me a bit, waving her fork at me, "Yeah! So, do you like boys or girls?"

"That's… An interesting way to start. Girls, I'm pretty sure I like girls."

Cobalt scoffs, "Such things just get in the way of glory! Where'd you go to academy?"

"Tower Academy. Look, can we do the interview later guys?" I asked, already having shrunk in my seat, "I'm not that big on being on the spot."

Sangria huffed, "Alright. I'll ask my questions later."

Cobalt nodded, "We'll see you in combat before too long!"

Thankfully, the rest of breakfast went by without incident and we were soon off to our classes.

There were a mixture of 'normal' classes, like English, but also classes like combat training, and the one I was in now, Grimm Studies.

This was one of the classes where we didn't get to sit as a team, and I ended up sitting to the right of Yang.

Yang seemed less interested in class and more interested in poking me.

"Uhm… Need something Yang?" I asked after about the tenth poke to my arm.

"Checking to see if your arm is still in one piece after yesterday." She states, finally stopping her poking spree.

"Oh… You saw that, huh?"

"Uhh, yeah! Hard not to. After we beat the Nevermore and Deathstalker the only person on the ground from any team was you."

"Ah…" I felt my face heating up as I looked away, "Man." I mutter.

Yang stifled a laugh and turned away, and I thought I saw Blake giving her a dirty look, probably because she wasn't paying attention to the lesson at all.

As Yang began to look back at me with a grin on her face, _my _face heated up for a totally different reason.

Gods, why was every girl in this academy so gorgeous?!

Screw these hormones.

"Hey, it's okay." Yang continued, "You still have your arm _Alder _all!"

"Oh my god." I feel a smile creeping up on my face against my will and hid my face under my mouth.

I was saved from Yang when Port asked a question to the class.

"Now, as I've been going over, Grimm are unintelligent creatures that tend to act in pack mentality, even those that gain intelligence generally take years to get there. However, there is one Grimm in myth that is said to have gone beyond that, and was born intelligent. Which one was that?"

A naturally intelligent Grimm? That was news to me. But so was 90% of the stuff Port talked about.

Weiss was the one whose hand went up, and Port pointed to her, "Yes, Ms. Schnee?"

"You're referring to the Emperor! He's one of the most mythical Grimm, and it's been debated for centuries if he even exists. They say he was able to grow to the size of a mountain and wielded a black greatsword the size of Beacon. It's said if he's sighted, it's a harbinger of much worse things to come, because Grimm are attracted to his powerful aura."

At the conclusion of her explanation, I noticed Sangria's ears fold and she hid herself by burying her head in her arms, Marigold, who managed to get a seat next to her, looking inquisitively at her, and a bit worried.

For some reason her words stirred… Something in my head.

Images of a black greathelm with burning red eyes of hatred and the wet sounds of sword against flesh sent a chill down my spine.

Such anxiety that I could hear my heart beating out of my chest, it caused me to close my eyes and focus on my breathing.

I tuned out the world around me…

At least, until a voice snapped me back to reality.

"Heeyy, Alderman, you okay?" Yang was waving her hand in front of me.

"Oh- Yeah. Just… A bit tired." I was too distraught to even register her pun immediately.

Yang frowned, "Hmm. Sure." She seemed to respect that I might not want to talk about it, at least for now.

That was a relief.

Port, in the meantime, had been talking about the values of a Huntsman, "...Who among you believes you embody all of these traits?"

Two people raised their hands. Weiss and Cobalt.

"Oho! Two contenders! That's one more than last year! Okay, things shall go a bit different then! I had intended for one of you to fight a boartusk, but how about a friendly bout instead? That should be more interesting, I think!"

Weiss frowned and seemed agitated over this, but nonetheless she leapt out of her chair when Cobalt did.

"Come on Weiss, represent teaaam RWBY!" Ruby was waving a tiny RWBY banner, while the others on her team were giving similar cheers.

I was tapped on the shoulder, and suddenly Sangria was in my face handing me a 'CASM' tiny flag.

She grinned at me before sitting back in her seat, "Come on COBALT! Kick her butt!"

Ruby gasped, "No, Weiss, beat HIS butt!"

I waved the flag half-heartedly while Yang sideyed me, "Y-Yeah, come on Cobalt. Have a… Swell battle!"

Yang leaned towards me and squinted, "You sayin' CASM is better than RWBY?"

I started sweating, "Nh...No! I just think everyone should… Have fun?"

Yang squinted at me, but leaned out, "We'll see about that later."

I swallowed a lump in my throat and changed my focus to the upcoming battle.

Cobalt and Weiss stood off a few feet from each other, and Port stood between them.

"Now students! Since this is a Grimm Studies class, I need to make this Grimm Study worthy, so on top of battling each other."

A curtain was pulled up, revealing the aforementioned caged boartusk, "The first person to defeat this boartusk and disable the opponent will be deemed the winner!"

Weiss huffed and crossed her arms, "Just don't be surprised when you lose."

Cobalt grinned, unbothered by her boast, and held out his hand, "Sangria, my axe if you would!"

Sangria, on queue, tossed the massive axe over to Cobalt, who grabbed it out of the air perfectly.

Weiss' eyes widened at the weapon, and I could tell she was second guessing her choice, but she simply cleared her throat and drew her rapier.

"READY?"

Cobalt's armor began to appear over him, like he was materializing a second skin of plate armor. Weiss continued to not look very happy with this.

"BEGIN!"

The boartusk was let loose and both students leapt back as it tried to decide which one of them to attack.

"Come on Weiss! Attack!" Ruby yelled, Weiss looked visibly annoyed but focused as the Boartusk charged at her.

Weiss glared at Ruby before swinging at the Boartusk and dodging out of the way as it crossed paths with her.

Cobalt seemed to be waiting for the right moment to strike, indeed he seemed to be predicting, waiting for something…

"You've got it Weiss!" Ruby continued, as Weiss pointedly ignored her and charged at the Boartusk head on.

Her rapier locked with tusks, and she was promptly bucked away after another Ruby cheer, losing her weapon.

"Oho! And what will you do without your weapon?"

Cobalt decided to step in now, grabbing the Rapier and tossing it to Weiss before getting the Boartusk's attention with a battlecry.

As the Boartusk went to hit with its horns, Cobalt brought down his axe. The axe's sharp edge began to dig into the tusk, causing the creature to squeal in pain.

"Weiss!" Ruby called, "Get it under the belly! There's no armor-"

"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Weiss yells, and I saw Ruby get the look of a kicked puppy, before Weiss charged a glyph under both Cobalt and the Boartusk and launching them in the air.

Weiss was getting ready to strike down the Boartusk when Cobalt righted himself in the air and slashed it right across the stomach, causing the Boartusk instant death as it was cleaved in two.

Cobalt was not done however, and tried to bring his axe down where Weiss was standing.

Weiss, however, thinking fast, cast another glyph that shot a projectile at Cobalt and knocked him against the wall, causing cracks to form.

Cobalt, however, was able to land and still stand, his armor blunting most of the injury.

As Cobalt began to stomp towards her, he shouted, "You are strong, Weiss! But will your anger cloat your path to glory?"

"I am a schnee heiress! My path to glory is guaranteed!" She yells back, yet something in her voice betrayed a lack of conviction as she charged towards him, aiming to pierce his armor.

Cobalt slammed his axe into the ground and, unable to change her course fast enough, was only able to prevent her rapier from being shattered as she slammed into the side of the axe.

Cobalt grabbed her by the arm and lifted her into the air, "So you say." His helmet dissapeared, and the blue haired warrior squinted at her, "But is it really _your _glory? Or does it belong to your family?"

Weiss growled angrily at him as his helmet reappeared and he threw Weiss against the ground and held his axe blade a few inches from her.

Weiss raised her hands, "I yield!"

Cheering from the performance resonated from everyone but two teams, CASM and RWBY. For very different reasons.

Ruby was sitting there with a kicked puppy look on her face, while Yang was busy chewing her fingernails. Blake seemed… Uninterested.

Sangria yelled, "Good job Cobalt!" while Marigold just politely clapped.

Cobalt, now unarmored, held out his hand, "Apologies for the roughness, comrade. We are all huntsmen in training."

She didn't seem happy with it, but she took his hand and huffed back to her desk.

"Well," Port stated, "An exciting event! That's all we have time for today. Remember to cover your assigned readings."

As we all left, I felt a tap on my shoulder and saw Yang looking at me.

"So! Your team is better than us, you think?" She was smirking, so I had a feeling she was just screwing with me.

"I never said that!"

"Still! I'm watching you. Just you wait, we'll get our revenge."

"Ah… Alright?"

Yang left after squinting at me menacingly and I wondered what I did to deserve this.

I sighed and started to leave. Classes were finally done for the day!

"Mr. Saar." Ozpin called me from down the hall.

Damn.

I turned around and left, my teammates looked at me strangely as I passed but I guessed they assumed it was something important.

Ozpin nodded as I got closer, and turned, leading me to steps that would take us to his office.

"How are you settling into Beacon life, Mr. Saar?"

"...Well, I suppose. My teammates are nice, if a bit… Strange. Team RWBY strikes me as odd."

"...Indeed." Once we were at the office, Ozpin asked for me to wait there while he handled some other business.

Thus, I was left alone in this massive office that held volumes upon volumes of books.

I wondered if any of them had to do with magic?

I approached the bookshelf and began to look at the titles of various books.

'The History of Remnant.'

'Grimmology'

'The Kingdoms.'

And more of that vein as I continued. Educational, sure. Nothing that struck me as magical.

...It took about ten minutes for Ozpin to arrive back.

When he arrived through the door, he cleared his throat, "My sincerest apologies for the wait, Mr. Saar. I had to speak with another student on something."

I nodded, "So… I have a question."

"Questions are a sign of a healthy mind, what's on yours?"

"How do you know so much about magic? Before a few days ago, I thought magic, the maidens… All that, I thought it was all a myth. And so does everyone else. How do you know so much?"

Ozpin pushed his glasses up and remained silent for a moment, before speaking, "I will tell you, in time."

His evasiveness reminded me of my 'dream.'

...Maybe I should bring that up to him?

"Also, when I was unconscious yesterday, I had a… Strange dream."

"Oh?"

I explained to him what I saw, what was said to me, and as I spoke his face grew graver and more serious as he moved from his standing position to behind his desk.

As I finished, I stated, "...The strangest part is that I can remember all of this vividly. Not like a normal dream." Then moved to sit opposite of him.

Ozpin nodded, "It was no mere dream… I thought I would have more time. I will need to convene with my colleagues to discuss this… But for now, we should focus on getting you as strong as possible, as quickly as possible. There are pieces on this grand board that have been moving long before you, and you would be in grave danger if you faced them."

I could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn't exaggerating, and I wondered just what I'd been pulled into.

"Now… Today is where we start you on the path of understanding your powers. We will start small, for we simply need you to be able to call upon these powers at will and know how to control them. If we were to delay this for something more… Exciting, then you'd be more prone to accidentally leveling a section of the school."

[...]

Ozpin was right about this lesson not being very exciting.

When I hear 'magic training' I imagined more fantastical things than what I ended up doing.

What I ended up doing was learning how to call upon various aspects of magic at will, and how to control the magical instincts that dwelled within me so I didn't go launching people across Vale when I was startled.

Additionally I learned to hone some skills I already knew, like lighting candles and channeling those magical energy streaks to help hone my finer control.

As we concluded the lesson, Ozpin spoke, lightly swishing his coffee in its cup, "You are like a barrel of unstable explosives right now, what you need to be is a finely tuned, well aimed gun. You made decent progress today, and tomorrow I feel we can move on to some more interesting topics. Remember to meditate, it's key to keeping your magic in check."

I was exhausted by this point, the sun was already setting and I was sure my friends were wondering where I was.

Ozpin noticed this as well, "Go get some rest, Mr. Saar. You'll need it."

"Thank you Headmaster."

With a nod and a farewell, we parted ways, I tiredly used my scepter as a balance.

Magic, even small amounts, took a large amount out of me. I felt like I'd been running a marathon with beowulfs acting as 'encouragement.'

As I was stumbling back to my dorm, I accidentally bumped into someone. "Ah, sorry-"

I was put face to face with a beautiful, red haired girl in wondrously decorated armor, "Oh, I'm sorry!"

"Sorry-"

"Sorry!"

"Sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry!"

We continued like that for another minute before the girl stopped mid 'sorry' and smiled, "Ah… It appears we're both sorry."

Realizing our blunder, I sighed and smiled back, "It appears so. Aldar Saar."

"Pyrrha Nikos. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, Pyrrha. So you're part of JNPR?"

"That's right. You're part of CASM, correct? I noticed you weren't at the ceremony."

"Ah.." I nodded, looking off to the side, "Yeah, I was in the infirmary… My old staff shattered when I used my semblance and I was knocked unconscious."

"Oh my! That sounds painful." She looked over my arm, "Well you seem fine now, and you have a rather nice scepter."

"You like it? I think it's a big long."

"All the better for handling experienced opponents, are you well trained in its use?"

"I know what I was taught but I'm always learning more."

"Perhaps later I could help you train? I'm always willing to help a fellow student."

"That would be nice. For now though… I should really be heading to bed."

Pyrrha nods, "I can see you're certainly very tired." Smiling, she waves, "Well, may we meet again."

With farewells exchanged, I headed back to my dorm, this time without incident.

Nobody else was in right now, I suppose they were exploring, or eating dinner, or something to that effect.

I used the alone time to prepare for bed and promptly fell asleep.

I wish I could say it was dreamless.

...

_I walked through an endless black void, lost and cold._

"_Where am I?" My voice echoed in my mind, but made no real sound._

"_Everywhere and nowhere…" The voice of a hag whispered in my ear, "He lies… They all will lie…"_

_I looked around for the source of the voice, "And how can I trust you-Whoever you are?!"_

_That earned a cackle from the voice, "You can't! You can't trust anyone… But I can offer you great things…"_

_Visions appeared before me. A harem of women, specifically the girls from Beacon. "I can offer you women, men… Faunus, human? Anything for the flesh…"_

_Then, the vision changed to a cheering crowd, as I sat on a throne, "I can make you King, no! I can make you Emperor."_

_Again, the vision changed, flickering across was piles of gold, and platters of food, "Anything your heart desires…"_

_As the visions faded, the voice began to as well, "Think about it… I will be waiting…"_

...

I woke again to Cobalt's trumpet, "Awaken my friends! For a new day has dawned, and we must begin our routines!"

And so it began again that we went through our patterns of getting ready for the day, and before long we were all heading out to breakfast.

When we sat down, I noted team RWBY and JNPR at the same table as us. It was a massive table, so we couldn't exactly communicate, but greetings were shared and everyone, save for Jaune for some reason, seemed to be having a good morning.

Well, for a whole ten minutes.

I caught sight of something going on at another table, it looked like one of the other first year teams I saw at the ceremony were harassing a bunny faunus.

"Hey, what's the deal with that?" I asked Marigold, who was seated next to me.

"Hmm? Oh my." She notes, "Faunus never did have it easy… Even here. I bet that poor girl just wants to be left alone."

"What?" Sangria turned around, having had her back facing it, and for once the bright girl didn't look so cheery, "Why is nobody doing anything? We have to step up!"

Cobalt, once he saw what was going on, gained a deep frown on his face, "I agree."

I wasn't so enthusiastic about playing hero myself…

But I guess my breakfast could wait.

Cobalt stood up dramatically and the rest of us joined him, the others didn't seem intent on going around the table as they just leapt over. I, however, preferred to have my feet on the ground, and just walked around.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" Cobalt declared to what looked to be the leader of the other group, "Cease your heartless bullying of others for their physical differences!"

"Get a load of this guy. What are you, from the middle ages?" One of the lesser thugs asked, but he cowered once Cobalt glared at him.

Sangria got in next, her short stature didn't stop her from being intimidating as she wagged her finger at the leader, "You have some nerve picking on someone like that! Who do you think you are?!"

The leader raised his hands in a 'calm down' gesture, "Woah woah, easy there, Spice and Mint. This here is just our good friend uh- What's your name?"

"V-Velvet."

"Velvet!"

Marigold huffed, "You must think us incredibly stupid if you think _that _trick could pull the wool over our eyes."

Cobalt gestured towards the door, "Leave and don't let us catch you doing this again!"

Cardin looked pissed, and like he wanted to say or do something, but he looked past Cobalt and frowned, "Fine, come on guys."

I looked to where he looked and saw team RWBY looking at the exchange, along with just about the rest of the mess hall.

Great, we gave people a show with their breakfast.

Cardin and his gang went to leave.

I felt like I hadn't done enough to help the situation, so I gently twitched my hand and tried to channel some of the magic I had used before to try and stop Weiss and Jaune from falling, but focused entirely on Cardin's foot.

It worked, he tripped and fell face first into some poor sap's cereal

The hall rumbled with bemused chuckles and whispering.

Cardin got up, red faced, and huffed out quickly, trying to save his dignity.

"Classic." I muttered to myself.

"What?" Marigold asks.

"Nothing."

Velvet stood up, "T-Thank you. For stepping in, I mean."

Sangria snorted, "Don't worry, girl! As if we were gonna let some jerk bully someone who ain't got anyone to stand up for them."

Velvet smiled softly, "I-I usually do, but the rest of my team decided to sleep in today… I didn't think it'd be a problem."

"Well, next time you can eat with us!" Cobalt declares with his usual bravado.

"T-Thank you, all of you. Now I really should be going… Coco won't be happy when she hears about this, but I'll tell her about you guys… My team doesn't forget their friends.

With that, Velvet scurries off out of the lunchroom, and we were free to return to our food.

Around thirty minutes later, the bell rang and signaled the start of class.

[…]

Classes went by with no problem.

Sangria seemed to have attached herself to Velvet for the sake of protecting her, and there was a couple classes we were in that we shared with them.

Marigold, too, seemed to stick with Sangria for that part.

Cobalt complained about the way people treated Faunus, calling it 'Dishonorable.'

I supposed he was right.

My final class of the day was a combat training class.

I expected things to go rather normal, as it was a demonstration-based class and there were dozens of other students that could be chosen from the mix.

Also, Glynda was the teacher, and she knew how important it was that I didn't accidentally do something that raised too many eyebrows.

"Today I'm going to pick the first student, and that student will pick an opponent."

Glynda scanned over all the students, and took a moment to think before pointing at Yang.

"Ms. Xiao Long, you will be the first opponent."

Oh no.

Okay, relax Aldar…

As she gets up on the stage, she looks over the whole assorted group of students.

Maybe she'd forgotten about her earlier desire?

"I pick Aldar!"

Fear promptly gripped me.

Glynda looked worried, but clearly couldn't turn down the request without seeming suspicious, "...Very well. Mr. Saar, please come up on stage."

Cobalt gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Make us proud, Aldar!"

"Yeah, you can get em!" Sangria cheered, waving a pom-pom I'm sure she stole.

Meanwhile Ruby was cheering for Yang, and I hesitantly brandished my scepter and headed onto the stage.

I gripped my staff nervously, twisting it in my hands.

Yang winked at me, before slamming her gauntlets together, causing me to recoil.

Glynda could tell how this was going to go, and sighed, "Alright, begin."

Yang charged at me, gauntlets raised, so I pointed the emerald end of my scepter at her and tried reaching for something to hit her with.

Gravity, thankfully, sparked and fired. It connected with her, sending her flying back.

With a backflip and a stuck landing however, she was quickly back in the field.

She used her gauntlet guns to launch herself at me.

Panicking, I tried to think of something I could do, anything I could do to stop the oncoming dragoness from landing her hit.

Suddenly, a barrier of green energy appeared in front of me.

Yang collided with it, driving her fist into it. I could see in her eyes that she was shocked, but she gritted her teeth and pushed on.

I wasn't sure how I summoned the barrier, but I tried to hold it so I could stay safe!

The barrier began to crack, and Yang used the gauntlet not pressing against it to boost herself against it more.

I felt my grip on my scepter tightening as I tried to hold it…

But the barrier shattered like glass and Yang got through. I was sent flying back from both it and Yang's gauntlet connecting with me.

If it wasn't for my aura I think I'd have broken a few bones.

I landed on the ground and Yang landed on top of me.

I was exhausted as Yang pinned me to the ground by placing her gauntlet to my forehead.

"Alright," Glynda calls, "Yang Xiao Long is the winner." I heard her mutter, "As if we were expecting anything else."

"Good work both of you."

I was blushing as Yang grinned at me, I realized the situation I was in. Luckily, it didn't last as Yang stood up and helped me up.

"No hard feelings, huh?"

I huffed.

My scepter didn't shatter at least, but what little pride I had was wounded as I stalked off away from Yang and sat back in my seat wordlessly.

Yang looked a bit confused when I sat down, sort of a 'What did I say?' look on her face as she headed back to her team.

"Impressive work!" Cobalt patted me on the shoulder.

I felt like a child for feeling so upset about this, but what was _with _her?

[...]

This mood hung over me like a cartoon rain cloud throughout the rest of the lecture and even through my lesson with Ozpin.

Towards the end of the lesson, Ozpin spoke up, "Mr. Saar, I noticed you've been rather down today. Is this about your duel with Ms. Xiao Long?"

I sighed, sitting down and taking this as an opportunity for a break, "Yeah. I barely know her but she's been… Well, picking on me. God, I feel like a child just saying that, but it's true! She singled me out and dueled me today, but she had to know how weak I am. She could have fought someone like Cobalt instead!"

Ozpin listened until I finished talking, before taking a sip of his coffee and offering a suggestion, "Did you think that perhaps she was trying to be friends with you?"

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, "Who makes friends by teasing them and pushing them around?"

"Ms. Xiao Long, clearly. She didn't mean you ill intent, I don't believe. Maybe she misinterpreted how you read her teasing."

I sighed and looked to the side, "...Maybe."

"I'm not saying you're wrong for feeling the way you do, but… If Yang approaches you, maybe hear her out, hmm?"

"...Alright Headmaster. Thank you."

"Of course. Our lesson has concluded for today. Enjoy your night."

I nodded, and left, the blonde dragon on my mind.

[...]

I sat at the public balcony on my floor of the dormitories.

Yang was only one thing on my mind now, as I recalled the dreams I'd been having.

Was Ozpin lying to me? Could I not trust anyone?

...Could I really get so much from this… Being?

I shuddered at the thought.

My internal considerations were interrupted when the sliding door opened and a familiar voice called to me.

"Hey, guess you're _Althar. _Aldar." Yang snickered, but as I looked at her, she sighed.

"Oh fine." She huffed over and sat across from me, on the balcony railing. "...Look, I talked to my team and… They kind of agreed that punching people usually _isn't _how you make friends…"

I was going to offer a snarky retort, but I remembered what Ozpin said and leaned back, "...I'm listening."

"I didn't think you were taking all that stuff I said to heart! I try to make it clear when I'm joking, but Ruby did tell me I sometimes forget that not everyone is exactly… Used to my sense of humor."

"I guess what I'm saying is… I'm sorry."

I looked at her, and I could see the genuine regret in her eyes.

...Damn those eyes.

Fighting a blush, I sighed, looking away, "...Alright, alright. No need to be so… Yangsty."

As I looked back, Yang's eyes lit up and she grinned, "Awesome!" She pulls me into a bone crushing hug.

"Ah! Careful, Yang! I'm weak!"

Yang let go, "Ah, right… You know you should really work on building some upper body strength. Maybe we could train together sometime soon?"

"...You know, that's not a bad idea."

"Sweet! I'll see you then. I've gotta head back, need to make sure my sister hasn't eaten my dinner."

Smiling, I wave, "I'll see you later."

With that, Yang left.

...I guess we were both acting a bit childish, but we moved past it.

As I leaned back, looking at the shattered remnants of the moon, I wondered how I could ever entertain the idea of betraying people like Yang.

[...]

[Unknown POV, Unknown Location]

I growled as I waved off the vision, "Damn Beacon and those children. I was tempting him, I knew it!"

My… 'Servant' spoke her mind, "Is there anything I can do?"

I was going to yell at her for speaking out of turn, but then I got an idea.

"...Yes, actually. I'm moving up our scheduled plans. You are going to infiltrate Beacon under the guise of visiting from another kingdom, ahead of your allies. Once there, I want you to do everything in your power to get that boy under your sway."

She nodded, "Might I ask, what's so important about him?"

"Young Cinder… You will see, in time. If our plan works… You and him will be an unstoppable force, and bring Remnant to its knees."

Cinder nods, "...Understood. I'll prepare to depart immediately."

"Good."

I turned back to my crystal ball and focused on Aldar as Cinder leaves.

"...In a way, I am glad that fool of a man saved you, all that time ago… You would do well… To join the family business."


	3. Penny for Your Thoughts?

The next couple days progressed uneventfully.

I remember seeing Jaune getting into some trouble with Cardin but there wasn't much we could do, and after a day of it he seemed to get a handle on it as Cardin and his crew started avoiding him and keeping their heads down.

So, whatever Jaune and his team did, it clearly worked to their favor.

A few more days passed before anything interesting happened.

On Friday, after classes and my lesson with Ozpin, I was walking down an empty hall.

I was thinking of how to spend my day, figuring I could hang out with my team and see what they got into, but before that could happen, I heard someone calling to me from a ways back.

"Alder! Hey!"

It was Yang's voice.

I turned around and went to greet her, but I stopped when I saw the look on her face.

She was concerned and clearly distraught over something as she approached, "Hey, have you seen Blake?"

"No, why?"

"She's been gone since yesterday. She… Got into a fight with Weiss, you know Weiss. We're worried about her."

I frown and lean on my staff, "That's awful. I can help look, if you want."

Yang smiles, "That'd be great! Just… Don't get anyone else involved, mmkay? This is sort of a team-thing. I don't think it'll hurt to have you looking as well, though."

I nod, waving her off, "I'll head down to the city and start looking then. I figure I should probably get some air outside of Beacon anyway."

With a nod and a thanks, Yang left and soon so did I.

Guess this would be my good deed for the day.

[...]

"Blaaakee! If you can hear me, shoot into the air!" I called, using my scepter as a walking staff as had become habit as I walked around yelling like a madman around areas of Vale looking for the B in RWBY.

Nothing.

Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough?

I walked, turning corners and going through alleyways until I got to a relatively deserted part of town.

Seemed to be empty because people were busy preparing for the Vytal festival…

I was both excited and nervous for that. It would be the biggest opportunity for me to show off, but at the same time it's the biggest opportunity for people to discover my secret.

If the world learned of my magic, than I feared Ozpin's predictions would come true and I'd be hounded and hunted like a wild animal.

It almost made me wish I didn't become a huntsman in training in the first place…

I sighed and shook off the negative thoughts.

As long as I kept my magic secret, I would be fine.

I decided to get the high ground in my search for Blake, I would have a better chance of finding her from a vantage point.

Looking around, I settled on a two-story building.

I could try and jump up it like the others would…

But this was a good chance to train my magic!

So, I closed my eyes and began channeling…

Soon the magical aura began to encapsulate me, a feeling of lightness resonated through my veins, like my whole body down to the cellular level was losing its weight.

As I opened my eyes, I saw the top of the building coming closer and closer.

This was tiring, but it was good practice. My aura would keep me safe from any serious injury if I fell, which I didn't think I would.

I didn't think, at least.

A voice interrupted what I was doing, "Salutations, floating stranger!"

Interrupted, I lost my concentration and began falling. Wildly, I began flailing my arms and cursing to the heavens, "Shit, shit, shit!"

Only to be caught.

As I opened my eyes, a girl's bright green eyes stared back at me.

Her face was pale and freckled, framed by short ginger hair that curled at the ends. A large pink bow framed her head behind it.

I got a good view of these features as she stared at me, our faces only inches apart.

"U-Uhm, hello there…"

"Salutations, fallen stranger!"

This girl talked with such strange, almost artificial happiness. It unnerved me.

"Hello… Thank you for saving me, care to put me down?"

"Of course!" She promptly propped me up on my feet, and I instinctively leaned on my staff to keep balance.

"Uhh… Thank you. That was just… My semblance."

The girl tilted her head, and I could tell for one reason or another she didn't believe me.

"Your aura is not showing a fluctuation or depletion, so I do not believe it is your semblance. I can also tell that you have another aura. It does not surround you, but is inside you! You are rather interesting, fallen stranger! Tell me about this strange core aura, please."

"C-Core aura? What are you talking about? How can you see auras?"

The girl seemed to be caught up in this for a second, she froze, blinking several times, before she extends her hand, "I am Penny Poledina! I have come from a neighboring kingdom to participate in the Vytal festival!"

"A-Aah, I see." I hesitantly reach out and shake her hand.

Feeling incredibly awkward, I try to leave the situation with a joke.

"Well, as my friend Cobalt would say, 'Friendship is glorious, but your duty is more glorious.' Soo… Seeya later, friend?" I laughed awkward and tried to leave.

Little did I know what a mistake that horrible attempt at a joke was at the time.

I turned and started to walk away, and got all of a good few feet away before suddenly, at incredible speeds, she was in front of me.

"What did you call me?"

She leaned in close to me again and I felt my face heating up immensely. I began to fidget and fiddle with my staff like I did with Yang earlier, "F-Friend?"

She tilted her head, before grinning, "I'm your _friend_?"

"U-Uh… I mean, we don't know each other's names…"

"Penny Polendina, I am a student from Atlas, here to participate in the Vytal festival!"

"Aah… I'm Alder Saar. Student of Beacon, I… Live here."

"That's so exciting! I am so happy to be your friend! You are my second friend to date!"

"Who's the other?"

"Friend Ruby Rose!"

"Ooh, I know her!"

"Really?! My two friends know each other!" Penny jumps for joy, "This is a happy day!" Then, she stops again. Pausing, blinking into space, before looking at me again, "You never answered my question, friend Alder!"

Ah shit. I thought I got away from that…

"L-Look. It's complicated, alright?"

"Complicated?" Penny tilts her head.

"It's a secret!"

"Ooh, a secret! I'm great at keeping secrets! You can trust me."

I sigh, finding a nearby bench and sitting down, "Penny, this isn't something I can just tell you. My closest friends don't know. You're my newest friend. People don't just… Give out secrets like that."

Penny frowns and goes to sit next to me, "That seems to be common among new friends, skepticism. However! I am highly secure, and will not leak information to outside sources! Besides, I am already aware there is an anomaly with you. This is… Curiosity."

She was being persistent about this.

Was I going to have to tell this person I just met?

I knew there was something wrong with her. She seemed to have some kind of… Disorder. Maybe a social disorder?

I sighed and decided I needed to play into this, as cynical and awful as that was.

"Look, Penny… If I tell you this, it means you are the only person I've ever told this. It puts you in a very special, very important place to me. You need to never tell ANYONE, okay?"

Penny stared at me for a moment, before her eyes widened as big as saucers and she grinned the brightest grin, "Of course! I'll be your special friend! I'll never tell anyone! You have my promise!"

If this situation wasn't so dire, I would feel compelled to get stuck on how adorable this girl is, in spite of her weirdness.

"I'm… Not a regular huntsman-in-training." I reached for words, it was hard to try and describe this when I knew it was going to be so alien to her. I leaned back on the bench and double-checked to make sure no one was around.

It was just us.

Penny tilted her head again, "If you are not a regular member of Beacon Academy, than what are you?"

"I don't have a semblance. Rather, I'm… Magic." To demonstrate my point, I held out my hand in an open upward facing palm, and began channeling.

Streams of magic, green, red, gold, pink, blue. These streams danced around in my hand, circling, then spiraling. Twisting and turning, forming shapes and then breaking apart and starting the whole process over again.

Penny's eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes widened and narrowed, then widened again. She opened her mouth to speak, only to find that she had no words and closed her mouth. After a pause she opened it again, "You have magic. It doesn't compute! Magic is from stories, not reality. Is this a story?"

Well, technically…

I shook my head, "No. It's very real, Penny." I let the magic dissipate. "I need you to keep this a secret, okay? I could be in a lot of danger if people find out. I know that there are those who want me to die or to join them."

"Like who, friend Alder?"

"...I don't know exactly. Just… Trust me, alright?"

Penny nodded rapidly, "Of course! You can trust me, Alder! And don't worry, I won't let any harm come to you. I am combat ready!"

Wait, what?

"Aah, Penny that's not really necessary." I state, waving my hand disarmingly, "I have a team and while they don't know my secret, they are really strong."

Penny leaned forward a bit as I leaned away, "I insist! You are very interesting, and I hate the idea of you getting hurt!"

Just as I was starting to look for a way out of this, one was presented to me.

In the distance, we heard the voices of Ruby, Weiss, and Yang. They were going back and forth talking about Blake.

Penny gasped, "Friend Ruby is near! Let's go see what she's doing!"

As Penny got up and skipped a few steps, she turned and looked at me, grinning a grin that reached the rest of her face as she shut her eyes.

I had to be imagining things, as she seemed to glow with a radiance that made my face heat up.

...God damn hormones.

I sighed, "Alright." Then I started to walk towards her. "Let's go see what she's doing."

Together we walked to the source of the talking, and ended up behind Weiss.

As I was about to greet them, Penny spoke up first.

"Oh I just love what you've done with your hair, Weiss!"

The three of them turned around in surprise, and I was left awkwardly waving at them as Penny stood standing creepily still with a smile on her face.

"Uhm… Hey you two." Ruby waved, while Yang gave me a curious look, and I shrugged.

"What are you up to?" Penny asked in her usual excited yet someone monotone voice.

"We're… Looking for our friend Blake." Yang responded.

"Oooh! You mean the Faunus girl!"

Wait, what?

I looked shocked at Penny, then to the girls, who were just looking at Penny.

"How did you know that?" Weiss asked.

"The cat ears!"

"What cat ears? She wears a bow…. Ooh…" Yang realized as she was talking.

"...She does like tuna a lot." Ruby whispers off-handedly.

After an awkward silence, Ruby adds, "She's been missing since yesterday..."

Penny walked up to her promptly, "That's horrible!" Putting her hands on Ruby's shoulders.

I could tell Ruby and her team were just as weirded out by Penny as I was.

"Do not worry my friend! I won't rest until your teammate is found!"

"Ooh that's really not necessary, Penny. Right guys?"

And the other two were gone.

How the hell did they do that?

I scratched my head, "Guess it's us three, huh?"

Ruby sighed, "Yeah. I guess so."

"Hey, don't feel so down." I offer, "Let's go look for Blake, huh?"

Ruby nods, seeming downtrodden for more than one reason, and we all started walking.

I stayed a bit behind the two of them as we walked, as Penny now seemed entirely focused on Ruby's plight.

If it wasn't such a serious situation I'd consider leaving too, I was sure Beacon was serving dinner right now…

Ruby explained to Penny, and by extension, to me, that Blake was… Something. What it was, they weren't sure, but Blake seemed keen on hiding it.

...Wow, I could really relate to Blake right now.

[...]

We eventually found ourselves at the docks as night fell, following the sounds of combat up onto a building and overlooking the docks.

We were greeted by a bad guy in a bowler hat pointing a gun at a monkey faunus.

Ruby was the one to step up first, and given my lack of combat experience I was more than willing to let her pose heroically and demand Torchwick stop.

It looked like things were going well until Penny asked, "Ruby, are these your friends?" which caused her to look at Penny.

At which point, the bowler hat guy blasted Ruby and sent her flying back and disarming her.

I gasped and ran over to Ruby to check on her, while Penny squinted at Roman and walked forward.

"Penny, don't!" Ruby and I both interjected.

"Don't worry, you two!" Penny looked at us, then back again, "I am combat ready!"

What happened next I had immense trouble registering in my mind.

Penny's back… Opened.

Out came a whole slew of swords that floated around her. Then she leapt into battle.

She was as a dancer, weaving through soldiers and guiding her swords like puppets on strings. Soldiers kept falling, she kept going, and when gunships arrived, she began to pull them down.

All I could do was stare in amazement at her sheer strength and grace as the gunships were destroyed and the ship trying to make off with a dust container was brought down and destroyed.

"Holy shit…"

Ruby gasped, "Alder, language!"

"Uhh… Holy schneet."

In contrast to the events we'd seen, Ruby giggled, "Schneet?"

"...I had to make the effort at least."

"Yang would be proud."

[...]

Team RWBY was reunited and they started working out their problems, and I considered that a mission accomplished. The day was saved by… Other people.

I stood around leaning on my scepter while team RWBY had its bonding moment and the two additions, Penny and Sun, sat with them.

Great job, Alder, you did nothing!

Weren't you supposed to be more competent?

Suddenly feeling rather downtrodden, I sighed and while everyone was busy I started leaving.

I got past the police line before I was stopped.

Penny appeared in front of me, "Alder! Where are you going?"

"Uhh, back to my dorm. It's late." I tried to answer as straightforward as I could, hiding my low mood.

Penny hummed, "Are you sure you are well? You seem troubled."

I waved, "It's nothing, really. I'm just very tired."

Penny paused for a minute, before nodding, "I will speak to you later then, Alder!"

Managing to get away, I bid her farewell and headed back for the night.

[Penny POV]

As my friend left, I felt a buzzing in the back of my head.

I knew what that meant!

I left and found a secluded place, before using my communicator.

"Penny reporting!"

"This is Ironwood."

I was surprised, usually the General was not the one to handle my correspondences!

"I have the full cache of my memory today available for viewing, General!"

"Oh, I know Penny." He sounded preoccupied.

"What are your orders, General?"

"Listen, Penny. I've looked into the file for 'Alder.' Somehow, he made it through Tower without anyone raising any flags over his powers, but now we know, and we can take measures."

"I feel bad, General." I respond with a sigh.

"Why, Penny?"

"I promised I would keep his secret, but my mission required me to cache memory for your review."

"Trust me, Penny. This is important. Now that we know, we can take measures to protect Alder. I don't know why Headmaster Ozpin did not inform me of this ahead of time… Your new objective is to make sure no harm comes to him, and to keep him from falling into enemy hands."

"You can count on me, General! I am combat ready!"

"I know, Penny. That's why I'm counting on you. Ironwood out."

Smiling, and with a new directive, I return to my team for the night.

[Alder POV, time skip to before the next term starts]

"...So as I said, I find the white fang to be entirely dishonorable and horribly lacking in glory!"

"...Thank you for that take, Cobalt. I agree."

I sighed as I speared my food with a fork while listening to Cobalt and Marigold go back and forth over their distaste for the White Fang.

This mood had been affecting me for weeks now!

It didn't help that I was surrounded by competent team mates and my lessons with Ozpin continued to focus on small and seemingly unimportant lessons.

Also I had a strange feeling that I was being watched. Ever since that day, I also felt like there was someone out of the corner of my eye, watching me.

...Even when I was getting dressed, which, the paranoia just made things worse.

Sangria poked me on the arm, "Hey Alder. You've been acting really distant this past like… Month. I know I've already asked before but is something wrong?"

I shook my head, evading again, "...Nah, just a bit of melancholy."

Cobalt spoke up, "Maybe you need a vacation? We do have time before the semester starts!"

"...Maybe."

That would probably take my mind off this and maybe get me out of this funk.

As we were about to discuss a possible trip to take, people suddenly started running out and we looked up to see team RWBY and team JNPR starting a food fight.

Very quickly tables were being repurposed and food was being wasted!

"Uhh, what do we do?" I ask as we're forced away from our table as Nora takes it and adds it to her tower of doom.

Cobalt declares with bravado, "We must save any caught in the crossfire and get out of here!"

"I thought you liked a good battle, Cobalt?" Marigold asks, dodging a misfired wad of mashed potatoes.

"I do! But in this case our chances wouldn't be good!"

"Smart." I comment as I'm promptly beaned by a chicken leg, "Ow!"

Cobalt spotted some students caught in the crossfire hiding under a table and declared, "CASM! Let's shine like gems!"

"Is that a battle cry?" Sangria asks, "I like it! LET'S SHINE!" Then she leaps in to get a defenseless student away from the battle.

Marigold huffed, "Chasms don't shine. But alright." Then, she helped by channeling her wind to lift a table that was laying on top of another student.

I was about to join in the rescue efforts, when I was again hit by a stray foodstuff and get knocked down.

The food was covering my eyes so I couldn't see, but I felt myself get dragged to safety by someone…

It was an unfamiliar voice that started talking once we cleared what I assumed were the front doors.

"Hey hot stuff, got a food problem?"

...The voice was unfamiliar and their words were flustering.

I felt a hand on my face, and it wiped away the mush.

I found myself propped up against the wall of the cafeteria and a girl with mint-green hair and dark-red eyes staring at me with a smile, "Hey there."

I felt my face heating up. Everything from this girl's outfit to her smile was captivating, and not just in the 'goddamn hormones' kind of way.

"Uhh… Hi."

The girl smiles, showing her bright white teeth, "You looked like you needed help back there, I couldn't let a cutie like you get hurt."

Wha-

I choked a bit, "Excuse me?!" My face was officially burning.

"You heard me." She offered me a hand, and I accepted it, standing up.

"U-Uhm, I see. Well, uhh… My name is Alder."

"Emerald. Me and my team are visiting from Haven for the Vytal festival."

"Aah, I see, well it's nice to meet you!"

Emerald smiles, and flips her hair, "It's a real pleasure meeting you. Say, I'm new in town. Do you think you could maybe… Show me around?"

"Uhhmm… Sure, when?"

"How about tomorrow afternoon? I'm free then."

I think for a moment, before nodding, "Okay, sure."

Maybe this was the vacation I needed?

Emerald waved and winked at me, then walked off, and I was left alone as the food fight calmed down.

Guess I'd go get some rest or something…

[Penny POV]

I felt an unpleasant frown cross my face as I watched the girl known as 'Emerald' and Alder from afar.

I felt strangely upset about the way she treated Alder…

I suppose I shouldn't let the strange feelings get in the way of my mission!

Alder looked like he was still distressed.

It couldn't hurt to talk to him, could it?

[...]

I knew Alder's routine very well by this point!

I had been watching him since the docks, when I got my orders from the General.

There were times when I worried he was catching on, but I couldn't let that happen.

That being said, I still should continue to be a good friend to him!

I approached him from behind as he was walking towards the Beacon dorms, "Alder!"

He turned, performing his usual response to being talked to of leaning on his staff and raising a curious eyebrow, as if he was questioning why someone would want to talk to him, "Hey, Penny. What are you doing here?"

"I am visiting and getting to know Beacon Academy, and performing a mission!"

"What mission?"

"I cannot say!"

He looked at me strangely, "Hmm, okay… Can I help?"

"Yes you can!"

"How?"

"Tell me friend Alder, why are you feeling so sad?"

Alder furrowed his brow, and gained a distant look, "...I'm fine, Penny."

"Do friends often lie to each other?"

Stunned, Alder shook his head, "No, of course not."

"Then why do you lie to me?"

Alder heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Penny. I've just been thinking about how useless I am to my team, and to Beacon."

Seeing Alder behaving this way made me feel a deep sadness.

"You are not useless! You have your special secret!"

Alder looked at me, and I could detect a sadness remaining in his eyes, "Oh Penny. That just makes it worse. I'm just going to cause trouble in the end."

"That is simply not true! You will become very strong. Just because you are not now doesn't mean you will not be!"

"Maybe… But right now I feel like a drag on my team."

"Then you will just need to drag them and return the favor!"

Apparently Alder found something about that statement amusing, as he smiled and laughed softly.

For one reason or another, this action resonated with me strangely, and I felt a tugging on my internal circuitry, around where my 'heart' is. It was pleasant and fluttering, it gripped me tightly.

I try to smile back, but I feel an awkwardness in my teeth, like I could not fully control the shape of my smile. Despite this, I was still feeling very happy!

Still, that's worrying, it might be a malfunction!

Alder steps closer to me, "Thanks for that I suppose, Penny. I guess I've been stewing on this for too long. It's really been dragging me down."

"Of course, it's what friends are for! I am available 24/7 for any needs you may have!"

"I don't know why you're so nice to me, but… Thank you." Then, he reached over and embraced me in a hug.

I felt a strange explosion of sensations, starting in my chest cavity and expanding outward to the rest of my body, and heating my face. It was very pleasant and warming, like his hug was giving me wonderful amounts of energy.

This was very strange, I feel like I really am malfunctioning! This does not normally happen when I hug people.

I hugged him back, until he let go.

"I need to go clean up and rest up. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Of course!"

Alder smiled at me again, and then turned and left.

I stood still until he was gone, and then I fiddled with my fingers, "Oh no, I hope I am not malfunctioning, dad would not be happy."

[...]

Later, I decided I would ask Ruby for advice on these strange feelings.

I did not want to assume it was a malfunction, less the General and my dad panic!

I approached the dorm for RWBY after getting into the dorms and knocked on the door.

Ruby opened the door, and blinked in surprise, "Penny! What are… You doing here?"

"I fear something may be horribly wrong with me!"

"What?!"

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah!"

I walked in and was greeted with the whole team looking at me with concern.

"What's wrong Penny?" Yang asked, having been reading a comic book on her bunk.

I answer the question with a question, directed at Ruby, "Friend Ruby, is it normal to feel as though my teeth are incorrectly shaped when I attempt to smile at Alder? It feels as though it should be wrong, but I would very much enjoy if it never stopped. Additionally, Alder hugged me earlier, and I felt a strange warming sensation all through my body. It felt as though my very core was being warmed. It was very pleasant and wonderful, but also very alarming as I have never felt this way before."

Team RWBY stared at me for a moment, before they all let out a collective, "Awwwhhhhh!"

I tilted my head in confusion, "What?"

Ruby took my hands and jumped up in down, "Pennnnyyy! You're crushing on someone!"

"A-Am I injuring them?"

Yang laughed, "No, that's just an expression! It means you like someone."

Blake interjects, "Romantically."

I furrow my brows and sound out the foreign word, "Ro-man-tic-ally?"

Ruby giggles and grins, "Yeah!"

Blake adds, "She doesn't seem to know much about it. I have material that can help." She closes her book and holds it up for all to see.

Ruby scoffs: "That's filth, Blake! We need to coach her personally."

I blink, "Coach?"

"Yeah! Now, let's start…"

[Alder POV]

As I settled in for my meditation in one of the oft unused study rooms, a knock came at the door.

I was greeted by Ozpin.

"Oh, hello Headmaster. Did I forget something in your office?"

"Not at all, Mr. Saar. Rather, I walked to talk with you for a moment."

"What do you need, Headmaster?"

Ozpin had a forlorn look on his face as he sat in a chair opposite of me, "It appears my circle of colleagues has started to learn of your existence much sooner than I desired."

"What?! How?"

"I don't know. What I do now, however, is that General Ironwood of Atlas, and by extent the Kingdom of Atlas, is aware of your gift and know that you're an active entity."

I was furiously flipping through my memories trying to decipher who could have found out.

Then it hit me, and the revelation broke my heart.

I leaned back in my chair and cast my gaze downward, "Penny… How could you…"

"Penny?"

"Penny Polendina… She's visiting from Atlas. She caught me using my powers and managed to corner me into confessing what they were. I swore her to secrecy, but it's clear she didn't keep that secrecy."

I could tell Ozpin was disappointed, but if it was at me or at Penny, I couldn't tell. "Well, we will simply have to adjust, and step up your training. You're not in any danger with Ironwood knowing, but the more people that are aware of a secret, the more likely it is you'll have someone reveal the truth to the public."

"What does that mean for me, then?"

"It means that, as I said, your training will need to be increased. We can't afford to spend time on smaller growth anymore. We'll need to push you harder, for more exponential growth. Starting tomorrow."

"...I see. Okay."

Ozpin stood. "...I'm sorry your friend hurt you, but… Consider it a lesson, Mr. Saar. You and me… We aren't ordinary people, and ordinary people are hard to trust, they have their own allegiances and stories, and they can often run in the opposite direction of yours."

With that, Ozpin bid me farewell, and soon I was alone.

As I stared at the table, I rubbed my forehead.

I will need to talk to Penny again, and soon.


	4. In for a Penny

I stirred in my sheets and opened my eyes. The ceiling greeted me warmly, with its smooth beige features. "Good morning," I mutter to the ceiling.

What I didn't expect was the ceiling to talk back.

"Morning!" Sangria greeted me, peering over the bed and smiling her usual bright smile. It shocked me for a moment, but all that did was shake the grogginess out of me.

"Morning, Sangria. How are you?" I ask while still laying flat on the bed, staring in the same spot I was before. I wondered why Sangria was still in the room, usually she was one of the first few people to leave in the morning.

"Good! I wanted to ask you about something, though. If you have time?" She looked hopeful and clasped her hands together in a 'pretty please?' gesture. Still staying in the same place, I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, what is it?"

She smiles and scratches her cheek, "I don't really wanna ask here. Can we go somewhere?" I sighed, rubbing my eyes.

"Fine, let me get dressed. I have to meet someone this afternoon but-" Then, I realized I didn't know the time, "What time is it?"

"Only about eight!"

"Alright. We'll go get some coffee."

"Yay! You're the best, Alder." She hugs me tightly, "I'll be waiting by the transport cars!" Then, she skipped out of the dorm.

Once she was gone I sighed and sat up, stretching and taking a minute to look around.

The other two were already gone as well. I remember Cobalt had talked about doing some weight training while Marigold… I didn't really know what Marigold got up to in her spare time. She seemed a lot closer to Sangria than me, which I guess was sort of my own fault for not really putting myself out there.

The room hadn't really had much done to it in the semester we've lived here. The beds as well were mostly the same. Well, two out of four. Sangia's was exceptionally messy and had junk strewn over it. Cobalt had put in a special request to get a bed that was a bit bigger than the normal one so it would fit his height. That wasn't surprising, although I had to say he was the very first person I'd ever met that needed a longer bed.

After psyching myself up to finally start the day, I crawl out of bed and set about my morning routine.

There were no classes today so I just put on my street clothes. I took my scepter with me incase I needed to use magic for any reason today. Unfortunately, thinking about magic at all reminded me of the sheer betrayal I felt just the other day. I hadn't seen Penny since then, but I knew she would show up eventually if she was planning to be in the Vytal festival.

Once I was all dressed and ready to go, I headed out to meet Sangria.

* * *

Sangria didn't want to talk and seemed unusually closed off during our walk to the shop, and I was beginning to worry that it might actually be something legitimate. That is, at least, until we got to the coffee shop…

"You want me to help you… Ask Marigold to the dance?"

"Yeah!"

"Why didn't you just tell me that before?"

"I was worried Marigold would find out, and I don't want her to know before I'm ready!"

I sighed, I guess that was sound logic. "So when is this dance?"

"A bit before the Vytal festival, something of a prom night like they have in normal schools. Except ours is much cooler because we're all naturally cooler."

I nodded, letting her ramble for a little while, but eventually she grew serious again and began pressing her fingers together, twiddling them. "I also.. kinda like Marigold.. like... really really like, you know..? And honestly, I- I think she feels the same way.."

"Aah… I see." I guess I wasn't that shocked, after all Sangria and Marigold spent most of their time together and also clearly had an in-depth history, "Did you guys grow up together or something?"

Sangria's expression dimmed and she cast her gaze downward, leaning back, "Well… When I was about five or six, my village was attacked and burned to the ground by a powerful Grimm. The Grimm was… Really intelligent. It spared me. To this day, I have no idea why… But while I was in the wreckage of my house, Marigold's family came through. They were traders from a neighboring town. They… They took me in, and from then on Marigold has been my best friend."

I took all this information in sympathetically, nodding along with it. "...That's why you want to be a huntress, huh?"

"...Yeah. I want to prevent that from happening to anyone else."

...That really put things into perspective. Before all this 'magic' stuff, I just wanted to be a huntsmen because it was cool and heroic. There were loads of people just like Sangria who had their families torn apart, and many more who never got the second chance she was given. Thinking about this, it made me realize just how important it was to keep the Grimm from becoming too strong.

I hated to imagine what would happen if something like what happened to Sangria happened in the city…

I decided the mood had grown too dark. "Look, how about we get some coffee, and we'll figure out how you can ask Marigold out, alright? It's too nice of a day for this kind of dark talk." Sangria nodded silently, smiling in thanks, and we soon ordered some drinks. Sangria also opted to get a small confection to sate her appetite, which I expected.

"So, what should we do to get you your girl, do you think, Sangria?" I ask, sipping my coffee and feeling awfully like Ozpin for a moment, then I put the coffee down and wait.

"It needs to be something special! She means so much to me, and I don't think she even knows I like her… Which is good because I don't know how she will react. Maybe a surprise of some kind?"

"Well… I'm not sure. Maybe a sign?"

"It can't just be that! It's gotta be… You know, more special!"

"Hmmm…"

* * *

We discussed possibilities for awhile before settling on something that we felt would work. Afterwards, Sangria decided she wanted to head back to the dorms to try and recruit Cobalt and maybe some others to our little plan. She did say that team JNPR seemed rather eager to help, and they seemed down for crazy schemes…

I checked the time and realized it was about when I should be going to meet Emerald. I was sort of looking forward to this, after all, she was a cute and friendly girl who seemed interested in me. She also didn't seem likely to betray me like Penny did.

The walk to our agreed meeting spot, the city center, wasn't long. It was part of why I chose the coffee shop that I did for talking with Sangria. I found Emerald waiting near the city's fountain, and she offered me a smile and a wave as I approached.

"Hey Emerald, how are you?"

"Well, thank you! Now, is there anywhere interesting you can show me?"

"Uhhm, how about the Cross Continent Transmity System? Sounds boring but it's a pretty iconic part of Remnant. Maybe after we go there we can stop at a pizza place? I know a few good ones near my old neighborhood."

"Sounds great! Cute _and _smart. I like it."

Blushing, I waved sheepishly and we started off towards the CCTS.

The walk there was pleasant. Unlike my conversations with Penny, Emerald wasn't at all rigid or overactive in any way. She was calm, cool, collected, and witty. She also continuously bombarded me with flirtatious remarks, which I felt was weird but also something I wasn't going to get tired of anytime soon.

The CCTS was a massive tower that reached hundreds of feet in the air, it pierced the heavens. Its size wasn't the only attraction, however, as it was also a valuable information archive for loads of things in Remnant. It was something of a public library, but it also held valuable information that was kept secret by Vale's government. As such it was more and more heavily guarded the higher up the tower you got.

"Well, what do you think?" I ask, gesturing to the tower as people flooded in and out, going about their usual business, or just hanging out around the entrance.

"It's pretty cool! Wanna go look around?"

"Well that's why I took you here, sure. Let's go." We started up the massive amount of steps, and I was starting to think that I was having a good time. That is, at least until I bumped into the main source of turmoil in my life right now, the ginger haired girl that I hadn't seen in a few days.

"Oh, sorry- Wait, Penny? Where have you been?" I stepped back and gained a questioning tone to my voice, "I haven't seen you since the other day!"

Penny looked at me, shocked for a moment, then she said, "Sorry, you must be mistaken!" Then, she hiccuped and walked past me quickly.

Ruby soon came into view as well, calling after Penny. When she saw me, she spoke. "Alder! Penny's acting really strange. Like she doesn't know me. This is so weird. She visited me a few days ago and then vanished after that. Now she's acting weird!"

I sigh. "She's acting that way to me too. Look, message me on my scroll if you figure out what's going on. I can't deal with it right now, I'm showing someone around."

Ruby blinked, then finally noticed Emerald. "Oh, it's nice to meet you! I'm Ruby Rose!"

"Emerald. It's nice to meet you too." She smiled, but it was a lot thinner of a smile than the one she gave me. Like she was really subtly asking Ruby to just get lost without actually saying anything. Not that I blamed her, sure Ruby was a great friend, but I wanted to get away from Penny if she was going to pretend I didn't exist after betraying me like that.

"Anyway! I gotta go catch Penny. Seeya! If you see Weiss in the tower tell her I said hi!" Then she was gone in a flash, rose petals trailing her path as she goes to catch Penny.

Emerald sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging. "Well she is something. I get tired just looking at her."

"Ruby is… One hell of an experience if you see her work. There's a reason she's at Beacon while she's so young. And the leader of a team." I found I held a great respect for the Rose, anyone who could work that hard and be that dedicated while still finding reasons to smile every day deserved to be successful.

Emerald nodded, grudgingly seeming to accept Ruby's position, then she started forward with me again and we enter the CCTS tower proper.

* * *

The CCTS tower was what I expected it to be. Filled with information on loads of things.

It wasn't the information that was interesting to me though, it was Emerald. She seemed rather elusive with her past, simply talking about her academy and not mentioning any family or even the rest of her team, except for one 'Mercury.' I supposed she had her reasons, but it was more than a little eyebrow raising.

We eventually did come across Weiss, and I called to her, "Hey Weiss, how're you?"

Weiss was surprised by my appearance, but eventually she settled down, and closed the information panel of… Whatever she was looking at. "Oh, hey Alder. What're you doing here? Did Ruby send you?"

"Not really. I'm just showing Emerald here around since she's visiting from Haven." Emerald waved and put her hand on her hip.

Weiss nodded. "Well alright. I'm a bit busy right now, so I'll catch you later!" Weiss promptly sped past me, and I scratched my head.

"Well, she's in a hurry."

"More time just between us." Emerald notes flirtatiously, winking at me. Then we head off and explore more while spending time talking, I mostly asked Emerald about life at Haven and why she became a huntress. I had a hard time really getting any answers and she usually responded by flirting with me.

I didn't know how to respond to that flirting either, I had absolutely no experience with it. So I just thanked her or otherwise just tried not to respond.

We eventually decided to get something to eat, and there was a pizza place not too far from the CCTS, so we headed there.

"I can pay." I offer, "It's not that expensive but it doesn't feel right making a guest to Vale pay."

"Nonsense! You're such a hospitable host I would be honored to pay."

"I wouldn't be a hospitable host if I made you pay for our food."

"What if we split it?"

"Alright, good idea."

It was lighter on my wallet at the least.

Once we got to the pizza place, we ordered and sat down at an outside table and ate, Emerald was the one to start another conversation, "So, you said this Yang girl kind of kicked your shit in huh? That's shitty."

"Yeah, well… She apologized and we made up so I guess it's okay."

Emerald leaned forward, talking and pointing her finger to make her… Point I guess, "I dunno. Wonderful guy like you? I think you deserve better than this place. These people don't _really _care, or else why would they let that happen in the first place? Besides, they don't know how special you really are."

This was a… Weird direction for the conversation to take, but I found myself entertaining her ideas. Still… "I dunno about that Emerald… I mean sure I feel dejected sometimes but, they are my friends after all…"

"Sure it _seems _that way but can you really know for sure? What have they done for you?" She huffs, "I'm just saying you should consider where their loyalties lie before you do something stupid for them and get left behind."

"Look, I-"

Then, before I could answer, Penny and Ruby ran past, being chased by some Atlesian troops.

"HEY ALDER, BYE ALDER!"

"Uuuhhhh….." I drag out. "I'm gonna go look into that… If I don't get back in like thirty minutes then here's my scroll number, we can keep talking later. Good day!" Then, before she could respond, I ran off.

"Sorry!" I called back to her as she huffed, but seemed resigned to it.

I turned the corner into the alleyway where the Atlesians were chasing the girls and tried to keep up as best I could, "Stop! What are you doing?!" I called to the girls and the guards as they continued running.

One of the guards looked back, and then did a double take, "Wait! Forget the girls, it's him!" And they skidded to a stop.

And so did I. "Wait what do you mean it's him?!"

"It's you!" The Atlesian soldiers marched up and gave me one salute a piece while the girls used this opportunity to get away, "Alder Saar, sir! General Ironwood wishes to see you!" I was, to say the least, both utterly shocked and completely and sufficiently whelmed.

"Uhm, alright, I guess? Where is he?" I catch my breath from the running and lean on my scepter as has become a habit of mine, wondering what Ironwood wanted from me.

"Come with us, sir! We'll take you to him."

Well, I guess I had no choice…

* * *

After the initial talking the guards didn't really have much to say, nor did I really feel like they would have been much for conversation beyond that anyway. The route they took was familiar, as they seemed to be marching me right to Beacon. On the way there, I got some strange looks from people. I'm sure some of them thought I might be some kind of criminal or maybe some high-ranking huntsmen or something because I was being escorted by guards, when in reality I was just a confused student.

Eventually we reached Beacon and I was taken straight back to the familiar office of Ozpin, where a tired and pensive looking Ozpin sat at his desk while a tall, broad-shouldered, and all around striking man who seemed a bit younger than Ozpin stood and seemed to be giving him shit.

"Again, Ozpin! You can't just hide these things from us!"

A soldier spoke up, "Uhh, sir! The student you requested is here. We found him in the city."

Ironwood turned around swiftly, "Ah! At last." He smiled at me, "You're dismissed, soldiers. Mr. Saar, come here, let me get a look at you." Curious and feeling nervous, I slowly crossed the room and stood a few feet away from Ironwood, whose strength, posture, and standing caused me to tense up the closer I got.

"You're… Shorter than I expected. Not to say that I knew what to expect, you're the only person here with this kind of power and it would be remiss of me to stereotype something that has only existed in Maidens before."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that, but I was still feeling rather upset with Penny, so I felt some sass boiling away my earlier nervousness. "I'm guessing your little spy told you a good deal about me?" My sass caused Ozpin to rub his forehead and sigh. Again, I couldn't tell if it had to do with me or with the ordeal we were in.

Ironwood's face was stone to my sass. He was probably expecting it. "I… Apologize. Penny told me she had informed you she promised she wouldn't share your secret, but I promise you this is for the best. I recommend you talk to her at your earliest convenience, she meant you no harm."

"I'd love to believe you, sir, but that'll be between me and Penny."

"Just… Know she has a very good reason. She should tell you when you ask her. I trust you with it." Hmm… A secret all her own? I wonder just what it could be that was so important that she was willing to betray me like that.

"I'll at least give her a chance to explain herself. Now… What is it you wanted from me, General?"

"Please, just call me Ironwood." That was… A bit off putting to me, to address someone as high ranking as just their last name, even if that still carried some formality with it.

"Alright, Ironwood. What did you want?" I wonder, crossing my arms and tucking my scepter between them. "It's not everyday someone who is both a leader of a Kingdom and Huntsmen Academy asks to see you."

Ironwood looked back at Ozpin, then back at me, "Ozpin and I agree that you're extremely valuable to the future of Remnant. You have the potential to be one of its most valuable guardians, but there are also those that would rather see you join them, or die."

I rolled my eyes at the same speech that Ozpin had given me, but it did briefly make my mind turn to Emerald. She had been talking about Beacon being 'too low for me' and how she knew a place where I'd be 'properly respected.'

Should I tell them that…?

...No, Emerald is probably just trying to get me closer to her.

"Alright, so what am I supposed to do right now?"

"Well, I think it would be better for us all if you were properly protected whenever possible. Even when your team is otherwise preoccupied. After all, as talented as Ozpin says they are, they can't always be around, and if you are cornered and outnumbered you could be overwhelmed."

I had a feeling I knew where this was going and I didn't like it. I shifted my staff's position from left to right and squinted a bit at Ironwood as he continued. "...So I would like to offer you something of a token, a gift, from the Kingdom of Atlas to you. A bodyguard. They would protect you with their very lives and always be there when you need them. Picture them as an extra member of your team."

The idea of someone giving their lives for me was unsettling. Still, maybe having someone to help me stay safe wasn't an entirely bad idea…

"...And who would this be? I don't want someone I don't get along with."

Ironwood was about to speak, but stopped himself, "...I was going to offer Penny to protect you, as she's very skilled in combat, but I understand you're having some trouble right now with her."

Ozpin speaks up for the first time this meeting from his desk. "Give the boy time, teenagers don't tend to remain angry at each other. Particularly in a situation like theirs…"

"I take offense to that, Headmaster." I comment, but I knew Ozpin was right. My mind was swirling with too much doubt right now to make a firm decision. "Can I come back to this later?

Ironwood frowned, he clearly wanted a more immediate answer, but he sighed. "Please just… consider how important this is. It would be horrible for all of Remnant if you were taken by the forces of darkness."

"...I'm still not even sure who these 'forces of darkness' are."

"You will learn in time, I'm sure."

I felt a frown form on my face, and responded with tired resignation, "...Of course. I need to go find Penny, then."

Ironwood smiled taking out his slate, "I'll do you a favor, Mr. Saar. I'll tell her to come to Beacon's main plaza and wait."

Well, at least General Ironwood was understanding. Even if I could sense that he maybe just wanted me to talk to her as fast as possible so I could hurry up and make a decision.

I bade the two of them farewell, and headed out to confront Penny.

As I headed to meet her, I couldn't help but stick on the 'give their lives' part of what the General told me. Even if Penny did betray me, I wasn't sure if I wanted her to give her life for me. I didn't think anyone necessarily should give their life for someone else unless they really wanted to themselves.

This nagging thought stayed with me as I continued forward.

Through the mixture of students and Atlesian soldiers, I saw the ginger hair and green attire of my potential bodyguard. The one who, as far as I was aware, betrayed me basically the second she had the chance to. To say I didn't trust her to guard my life was a bit of an understatement, but I'm not sure I trusted myself to have the kind of control over her life General Ironwood had described either. As I walked closer to Penny, I saw she had her back turned to me, and as I grew even closer still I noticed something I hadn't seen from further away.

She was shaking rather badly.

That gave me pause, as I considered just what could have made her do what she did, if she was this afraid of seeing me. Was she worried I'd be angry at her? Based on the experiences I've had with her, these kinds of things were totally unexpected. She was facing away from me and the shaking was punctuated by her nervously looking left and right, this disarmed me better than any huntsmen or Grimm could.

My steps slowed and uneasy, I started towards her, calling in a soft voice, "Penny?"

Her shaking stopped as she tensed up, and slowly she turned towards me. The expression on her face was one of fear, worry, and sadness. Her eyes glistened and her lips were quivering uncontrollably. It kept me off balance.

I could hear my own voice cracking from the gravity of the situation.I said the first thing that came to mind as I stopped walking a few feet from her. "Penny, I... The General talked to me..."

Sniffling, she managed out, "I-I'm so sorry, Alder. It- It wasn't my choice, I just wanted to be… To be your friend. I… I want to tell you something, but we can't talk here. Can we go somewhere else?"

Looking around, I could indeed tell this wasn't exactly the place to have an emotional encounter, but I knew a place where we could be alone. "Yeah, come on." And I led the way towards the dorms.

The walk was awkward and silent. People avoided looking at us as we walked past as well. Maybe we just gave off a certain feeling that made people not want to associate, or risk being involved in something they didn't know anything about.

Eventually we reached my dorm's level, and headed for the public balcony. The double glass doors opened easily enough, and once we were both on the balcony I closed them and drew the curtains which were usually left open to allow natural light in. It was empty most of the time, and it was especially deserted right now with so much going on around campus.

I turned to speak but before I could say anything, Penny immediately jumped on me, wrapping her arms around me tightly and pressing her lips against mine.

My eyes widened as I backed into the doors and I felt like fireworks were going off in my chest and working their way up to my cheeks, causing them to turn a dark red. I didn't reciprocate nor did I pull away, I was too stunned to do either. It lasted almost a minute, during which time the fireworks refused to subside in my heart, and they only settled when she pulled away, and I immediately asked the question.

"Penny… What the fuck?" I was in utter shock and the mixture of my anger from before and the shock of Penny taking my first kiss in such an abrupt and unexpected matter led to me being completely at a loss.

"I-I'm so sorry!" She responds, immediately leaping off of me, "If that was out of line, I apologize greatly! Ruby just told me to go with my feelings and 'instincts' and I told her I didn't have instincts then she told me it would just be a natural feeling that I got when the time was right and-"

I interrupted, "Okay, okay… Let's just… Let's slow down for a minute." I immediately went to the nearest chair and sat down, not trusting my legs to keep me standing after that. Penny walked over and stood in front of me, keeping her hands clasped together in front of her and looking down in shame.

I had to admit that her sudden confession of feelings and abrupt actions certainly took me so off balance that I was no longer brewing with anger anymore. Instead I was just looking for answers, "Now… Penny, I need you to explain to me why you went back on your word and told General Ironwood about me."

"That's related to what I want to tell you, Alder. I'm… not a real girl." She remained with her gaze cast downward.

I wasn't sure how I was meant to interpret this information, and started to speak a moment after, "What do you mean not-"

I cut myself short as a portion of Penny's arm suddenly unlatched itself and showed the metallic interior that mimicked muscles and tendons, and I was left almost speechless, "Oh…" So that's why she had space for those swords! I thought she just had some kind of special outfit or something at first…

As her skin closed, she looked at me expectantly while I was busy processing this information. My mind was a veritable hurricane. She's an Android? Like from the science fiction books? And not only that, but she kissed me! I was kissed by an ANDROID!

My previous emotions began to melt away as my brain switched to registering the outrageousness of the situation, and I began to laugh, doubling over in my chair as I did so.

Penny was clearly confused, "Alder…? Why are you laughing? Did I say something amusing?"

I began to get my laughter under control as I looked up and saw how confused and worried she was. "N-No, it's not that." I waved, "It's just… All this information is a lot to take in. First you kiss me, then you tell me you're an android. Makes me being magic seem tame by comparison, doesn't it?"

Penny gave an uncertain smile. The kind of smile that convinced me she wasn't sure how to feel and was just smiling because I was.

I sighed and sat straight up. I looked her in the eyes as I spoke, "Look, Penny. You might be an android, but you're still Penny, alright? I'm not going to be upset or anything because of that. I'm upset because I told you not to tell anyone I'm magic, then you went behind my back and told the General exactly that. How do you think that makes me feel?"

Penny began to apologize, "I'm so sorry, Alder! I was sent here to participate in the Vytal festival, that is true, but I was also a forward scout for General Ironwood. I had to log all my memories as per my orders directly from the General himself. I didn't have a choice, even though I didn't want to tell anyone."

"Is this conversation being logged?"

No… My old orders were overwritten when I was requested to… To watch you."

"Watch me?!"

"Yes! I apologize greatly! I had to keep you safe! I don't want anything to happen to you and neither does General Ironwood, he's a really friendly and caring person!"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, shifting my position on my feet, "So… That's it then?" I was honestly… Underwhelmed. I expected some grander conspiracy at play, and while this was a big deal, it was nowhere near the backstabbing, evil plotting that had come to characterize how I imagined this had gone down from Penny's angle.

The freckled girl was looking at me expectantly, bouncing on her heels not so subtly and looking with her eyes as wide as saucers and filled with worry. I had to stop myself from staring into her eyes…

All the information that had been loaded onto me today was weighing heavily on my shoulders, and I leaned back and heaved a heavy sigh. "Okay, Penny. I forgive you."

Penny's immediate response was to leap onto me again. I yelped, startled, "Woah, woah, Penny!" And the chair I was sitting on immediately revolted against this additional wait by falling backwards. Thankfully my aura prevented me from actually getting injured, and Penny didn't seem bothered as she hugged me tightly.

"Oh, thank you Alder! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Penny hugged me so tightly I felt my bones protesting against this injustice.

"Penny, okay, okay, you're welcome! Consider my bones!"

Penny loosened her grip and instead just stared at me, our faces just a few inches apart, causing my face to redden once again.

"L-Look, Penny. The General wants you to be my bodyguard, but… That means you might have to die for me, and I don't want anyone to die for me! You're too… You're too important to die, even if the General thinks I'm somehow more important."

Penny smiled at me, "Do not worry, Alder! I really want to be your bodyguard! I will not let anyone harm you, ever! I am combat ready!"

I sighed, "I know you are." I still wasn't sure about this, but I knew there wouldn't be any talking Penny out of it with the look she had on her face right now, "...Alright. You can be my bodyguard!"

"Yay!" She squeezed me again, but thankfully loosened once I grunted in pain from the strength, "Oh! Sorry!"

"Now, how about you let me up?"

Penny responded by using her… Semblance? To tether herself to the railing and pull us both up with little effort, "There!"

I dusted myself off, "And… Penny. About the kiss…"

Penny's face reddened, and I wondered just how she was able to blush, "Y-Yes, Alder?"

"...Let's just take things slow, alright? Stay friends for now, and maybe if things go well over these next few days, we can talk about being more."

Penny, who I was sure had no idea how any of this worked, simply nodded enthusiastically, "If you say so, Alder!"

Nodding, I picked up my scepter from the floor, and beckoned her to come with me, "Let's go tell the General the good news, then. I'm sure he'll be happy."

"He will be very pleased!" She agrees, as we head back out towards Ozpin's office.

As we walked, I sighed, content in knowing that at least this seemed to be turning out okay in the end.


	5. Whirlwind

_Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season. With the end of the year coming swiftly, vacation is closing in on its end as well. As such I figured I'd best get back to writing! Hope you enjoy._

* * *

"Gooooood morning!" A sonorous, yet loud voice woke me and the others, even Cobalt and Sangria, who were normally up this early anyway.

"Ugh…" I groan as I sit up and rub my eyes. "Penny… We talked about waking us up early." It wasn't until I finished complaining that I smelled a wondrous smell. It smelled like…

"Baacoonn Pancakes!" Sangria cheered as she zipped out of bed and headed for the dorm room's kitchen.

Cobalt hummed, "I appreciate someone else waking up the team besides me, comrade, but you know you don't need to make breakfast!"

"Of course I do!" Penny reasons, standing proudly with her hands on her hips, "I cannot trust that food NOT made by me or under my supervision will not be poison! Besides, I have knowledge of over four thousand seven hundred and eighty five recipes! I am cook ready!"

Marigold and Cobalt both got out and went to join Sangria in the kitchen, clearly not one to protest free food they didn't have to cook.

I, on the other hand…

"Penny… You know you don't need to take these extra steps." I state with a sigh, staying sitting in bed. I'm sure most people would KILL to have a cute girl, even a cute robot girl, do things like cook food for them and be their protector, but I wasn't most people. I was already not very happy with having the General insist on me having a personal bodyguard… The idea of someone waiting on my ever need beyond that? It was wrong!

"Of course I do!" Penny responds, producing a small stack of pancakes for me and moving to stand next to me, offering them to me, "I cannot and will not let any harm befall you!" She kneels down so she's on eye level with me and grins an adorable grin.

I sighed, feeling the heat rise to my face again as I was reminded of the abrupt kiss Penny gave me a few days ago. She had been with us for almost a week now, but it was still hard to get used to her. Especially when she wanted to basically treat me like some kind of King.

Or a child.

"Look, Penny I-MPH!" I'm cut off indignantly as she shoves a piece of pancake into my mouth.

"Eating breakfast is a vital part of starting the day off right, which decreases the chances of fatal accidents!" She cheerfully informed me with a smile and I found myself huffing in protest but not complaining further for now. I just took the plate to avoid any embarrassment.

"Awwwh, look! Penny was feeding Alder!" Sangria pointed out from the kitchen.

Too late.

"Oh be quiet, Sangria." I roll my eyes and focus on eating my own pancakes grumpily. Besides, there were other things we had planned for this week. Especially with the Dance just around the corner… Sangria had enlisted my help with Marigold, of course, and we later recruited Cobalt into the mix as well. We had gotten team RWBY, but they were busy with organizing the dance now so they had to cancel.

Sangria just smirked and went back to eating, while Cobalt finished quickly and then marched up to me. "Alder! You know there is work we must do, correct?"

I looked up at him, still chewing my pancake, "Work?" I speak through the pancake.

Penny frowns, "Don't talk when eating, it increases the risk of choking!" Causing me to roll my eyes and Sangria to giggle.

I would need to get Penny to drop this overprotectiveness shtick sooner or later, but for now I just focused on what Cobalt had to say.

"Yes! We were going to-"

Just then, my scroll went off and I picked it up on my nightstand.

Ozpin messaged me, he was asking me to report for training.

Back to it, I guess… "I need to go, it's the Headmaster."

Penny stood up, "I will come with you!"

Cobalt furrowed his brow and squinted, "I know you're supposed to be staying with us as a matter of courtesy from Vale to Atlas, Penny, but you sure do seem to be sticking with our dear friend Alder a lot."

That was the excuse Penny and I had come up with, of course… But Penny wasn't exactly subtle about what her job was, and I could tell the others were getting suspicious.

I decided to try and subvert this as Penny looked worried, "Uhm, Ozpin wants to see her as well… To make sure that she's feeling okay about her stay here!"

Cobalt seemed suspicious still but clearly didn't consider himself as having enough information to call us out any further, "Very well." Then, he went to go talk to the others, particularly about class.

So I got up and threw on my school outfit, as I had been wearing pajamas before. With my team I had grown accustomed to just wearing shorts at night but around Penny? Well… Let's just say I started wearing a shirt as well.

Soon, the two of us headed out to meet Ozpin.

* * *

We walked in silence and got there fairly quickly, Ozpin was sitting at his desk as he always is when he calls these meetings.

"Ah, Mr. Saar. It's good to see you, and you've brought Ms. Polendina. Very good."

Penny waves, "Salutations, Headmaster!" She was clearly more excited about this than I was. Then again, this was basically routine for me at this point. Ozpin smiled at her and returned the wave.

"Why is it good? You didn't ask for her." Sure, I lied to Cobalt, but still it was mostly to just get out of the room.

"Because today is going to be some combat training and I need someone who will be able to show restraint."

I was taken aback and surprised, but when I looked at Penny I noticed that she seemed to be completely unphased by the idea. "That is a GREAT idea, Headmaster!" She declares with jubilance, "He will never get stronger without real training!"

"Woah woah," I speak up, waving my free hand, "What if I hurt her? We have no idea what I'm capable of actually doing!"

Penny turns to me, saluting, "Do not worry, Alder! I am combat ready!"

Ozpin stood up, "Indeed. I set aside a combat training room for our personal use today. But first-" With blinding speed, Ozpin crossed the entirety of the room and calmly, but quickly, pulled open the door.

And my team members fell forward on top of each other, with Cobalt at the bottom and the other two piled on top.

My eyes widened, "Guys! What the hell?!" I strode forward, Penny following behind me, "You were spying on us?"

They scrambled up as Ozpin watched them passively, like he knew what was going on.

Cobalt was the first to speak, stepping forward towards me, "Yes! We're your team, your comrades! What are we supposed to think when you've been going off every day, missing classes, and now, no offense to Penny, have some new person watching you and treating you like some kind of king! She is not exactly subtle in her behavior."

I looked to Penny, who looked away sheepishly. That was a new emotion for her, I felt, as I'd never seen her look remotely embarrassed at something before.

Ozpin cleared his throat and the three of them turned to look at him, "I anticipated this." His voice was without shock or surprise, like he was talking about the weather, "You three should know when to respect someone's personal life…"

He lets that hang for a minute, the three of them were clearly torn between what Ozpin said and their desire to know more.

"...But, I suppose you are Mr. Saar's friends and teammates. You were going to have to learn eventually, and it's better that you know now. That way you can help keep him safe when the time comes and you can't rely on the school to shield him."

"Keep him safe from what?" Sangria asks, worry clear in her voice, "What exactly is going on? We heard you talking about combat training, but if it was normal training, then why would you need to keep it secret from us?"

Ozpin had a frown on his face as he went on, "Alder is not normal, nor is the training. You can join me in observing his efforts with Penny today." He clearly wasn't happy about having three more people in on this secret, but he seemed resigned to it.

This exchange reminded me of the grander part I was going to play, with how Ozpin was talking about me as I wasn't there. I wondered where this supposed authority of his comes from? He might be the headmaster but that didn't mean he had complete control of my life!

I ruminate on this as we headed out for the training room Ozpin had planned for me and Penny to use. The walk was awkward, silent, and filled with everyone else in the group looking at me strangely. It made me feel incredibly awkward…

We reached the room and went inside. It was in another wing of Beacon altogether, where similarly large rooms were used for combat training. This one, however, was totally empty. It looked plain, with steel flooring and no decorations. There was, however, a small side room that had a two-way glass mirror that seemed meant for observation of more explosive or otherwise larger fights. That is where Ozpin and my teammates headed as Ozpin directed Penny and I to make ready for our sparring match.

Ozpin's voice came over the intercom that seemed to be for proctors of matches, "Now. Try not to do anything lethal to each other, I will be monitoring your auras carefully and will call this match if I fear one of you is getting too close to critical. Please stand at least fifty feet from each other."

We reached our positions, and Penny's swords appeared from her back, seeming to float behind her. However, I noticed that she seemed to have some kind of nigh invisible wiring that she used to control them. As I took this in, she smiled brightly at, "Do not worry, Alder! I will not cause you undue harm!"

I sigh, "Oh I'm sure you won't Penny."

Ozpin declared, "Begin when ready."

At that, Penny made a great leap towards me, "Look out, Alder!" She warns, yet I could tell from the smile on her face that she seemed to be enjoying this.

I had barely enough time to react as I dug my feet into the ground and slammed my staff out in front of me with both hands. This caused a green shield not dissimilar to the one I formed against Yang to sprout out of the ground and tank Penny's hits.

Her weapons dug into my shield, but I had a plan. Once they started to break my defenses, I pushed outward with my staff, causing my Shield to become a kinetic force that pushed Penny back. This caused her to launch backwards, but she flipped and landed safely on her feet.

"Impressive work, Alder!" Penny cheered, "But that was just a test! Let's see how you do against this!"

Penny leapt into the air and begins to reign down her swords on my position! Thinking as quickly as I could, I leapt backwards and began to channel my levitation, which caused me to float above the swords that fell on the ground.

"Alright, Penny!" I called, "My turn! I've been working on this trick for awhile!" I channeled my energy and felt my desired reaction as orbs began to form above my head. I sent this orbs out all at once towards Penny, "I call this _Magic Missile!_"

The 'missiles' raced for Penny as she landed on the ground. She was able to retract some of her swords in time to knock the first two away, but the final three managed to impact her! The first two called her to stumble and the third sent her back. I could tell it had an effect, but she was still in the fight!

To avoid running low on energy, I lowered myself back onto the ground and began to channel my energy into my scepter, something Ozpin had been advising I start trying to do more often. Penny recovered and began charging at me again, and I started firing off energy beams from my staff, beams that she evaded. Once she closed in, I switched tactics and readied for a close range engagement.

A flurry of blows followed. Metal clashed against metal as I deflected her swords to the best of my ability and tried sending out beams of energy, which she was able to avoid. Eventually, Penny got the upper hand and moved one of her swords behind me, slashing into my achilles heel and causing me to fall to my knee.

Before Penny could try and call the match in her favor, I had one more trick up my sleeve. I channeled my magic and sent out a kinetic shockwave that sent Penny back again, and used the opportunity to stagger up, using my staff as support. I mentally thanked my aura for preventing any serious damage, but it still hurt like hell!

Penny, I could tell, was injured as well, but she had a lot more fight left in her than I did. I suppose this was why she was the bodyguard here!

"Surrender, Alder, and things will be easier for you!"

"And forfeit what little pride I have left? Never!"

Penny smiled, "Suit yourself!" Then she charged at me again with her impressive speed and grace, but unlike her fight at the docks, there was no time to admire it.

I braced for impact, as I was too weak to throw up another barrier at this point.

Penny, however, didn't seem intent on attacking me in the conventional manner. Instead as she raced towards me, she made a massive leap and propelled herself at me like an intercontinental ballistic Penny. "HUUUGGSSSS!" She yelled, and proceeded to body me. I was immediately thrown back as she tightened her grip on me and snuggled me.

I think if it wasn't for my aura I would have broken several bones.

"Penny!" I wheezed, "We talked about this!"

"I am sorry, Alder, but I couldn't resist, and I did win!"

I sighed as I heard Ozpin over the intercom, "Indeed. Penny you've won, although I will say, Alder, you have improved a great deal."

My team, and Ozpin, came out of the observation room while I was stuck being snuggled by Penny. "Penny, you can let me go now you know."

"Yes, I know!" And yet she remained.

Sangria cooed at the sight, "Awwwh, you guys are so adorable! Is she your girlfriend, Alder?"

"Let's just say it's a complicated relationship." I respond, which Penny seemed okay with.

"Well I think it's adorable!" Sangria responds. Cobalt, in the meantime, wordlessly helped us stand up.

Ozpin then speaks, "Well, as you all saw, and as I explained, Alder is magic. His powers will be far greater than any normal guardian of civilization. He will be great, but right now, he needs to be protected. That's part of why Penny is here, and I expect you all will defend him."

Cobalt rubbed his forehead, "This is… A lot to take in, but I suppose it is important, and Alder is our friend."

"So… Remind us again why we cannot tell anyone? This seems like it would be peace of mind for people." Marigold pointed out, "Having someone with the potential to one day turn armies of Grimm at the mere mention of their name… That seems potentially very comforting."

"And it will be." Ozpin returns, "But not yet. He's too new to this, too weak. If he was unveiled to the public at this juncture, he would serve more as a target for the forces of darkness than a symbol of peace for the public."

I feel a chill down my spine at all this talk, "...You know I really just wanted to be a Huntsman when I came here. I didn't sign up for this high of a profile gig."

"Nobody does, but children of destiny don't get to choose their lot in life. I learned that the hard way." Ozpin responded, which was little comfort.

"Right." Was my only response. I knew now why people turned into alcoholics.

Not that one needs alcohol when they have a cuddly android girl. That's at least some solace.

"Anyway. I think this will do for training today." Ozpin gestures to the door, "You're all dismissed."

I didn't need to be told twice. The battle left me tired enough as it was, so I headed out with everyone else. As much as I wanted to just go lay in bed I could tell that the rest of my team had a load of questions for me.

Thankfully they waited until we got to the room for that. Penny, however, spoke up once we were in. "Uhm, I have something I must attend to!" She declares, "It is important business! I will return before too long though!" And then she fled, leaving me with my answer hungry team mates.

Damn it Penny…

"When were you planning on telling us this, Comrade?" Cobalt asks, crossing his arms. I was figuratively and literally backed into a wall.

"Now, before you guys start tearing into me." I try to ward them off, "I only kept it secret because _Ozpin _told me too. He said the fewer people that knew, the better. The only person besides him that knew before you guys was Penny, and that was on accident!"

Sangria decided to defend me, which I had to remember to thank the wolf girl later, "Cobalt, I know you're upset, but I can't say I blame him too much! I mean, if the headmaster told him to keep it secret, what other choice did he have? Besides, the Headmaster was right, and secrets are hard to keep if a lot of people know about them!"

Cobalt rubbed his forehead, "It's hard to not be upset for hiding something like this, but I'm not mad." Cobalt, the nearly seven foot giant, walked up to me and put his heavy hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eyes, which took me utterly off guard as his blue gaze pierced through mine. "Listen to me, Alder."

"Y-Yeah?"

"You can tell us anything. We're your team! We are here to help you even if you feel you're alone, and we will keep you safe until you can return the favor for us. Am I understood?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Yes…"

Smiling, Cobalt let me go, "Good. Now, there was another matter we must attend to today."

"And what's that?" Marigold asks, crossing her arms.

"We must study! To the library!"

Collective groaning followed, but we knew it was what we had to do.

* * *

At the end of our study session, we were all collectively exhausted, and I hadn't seen Penny for hours now. I wondered what was going on with her?

I didn't have to wait long, it turned out, as I received a text on my scroll. While my team was busy staring boredly at books, I pulled out my scroll and read it. It was from Penny, as it turned out.

"_Could you come to the Fountain, Alder?"_

Even her texts were written so formally, it was unsettling.

"_Sure."_

I stood up, "Well guys, I'd love to study more, but Penny needs to see me."

Sangria groaned, "Lucky you, you've got an excuse!"

I patted her on the shoulder, "I'll see you guys back at the dorm." I headed for the exit to the library. It was already getting dark outside, which just showed how fast time moved when you were busy cramming for exams. The fountain wasn't that far from the library, but it gave me time to wonder why Penny was asking for me to come see her rather than just coming to find me, she usually seemed to know where I was.

When I got to the fountain, at first I didn't see anyone, and grew confused. "Uhhh, Penny? Where are you?" I called out loud, and then promptly was given a heart attack as a whole host of people that weren't Penny jumped out. I instantly recognized team RWBY, "Alder!" Yang called, "Hey buddy!" While she and Blake seemed to be making an effort to keep me from seeing something.

"U-Uhm, guys? What the hell?" I had left my staff in my dorm, or else I'd be gripping it right now. I settled for nervously wringing my hands.

Ruby answered, "Someone wants to ask you something!" The team parted and the sight I laid witness to caused the breath to catch in my throat.

It was Penny, but she had abandoned her normal outfit for a long, teal-blue dress and someone, possibly team RWBY, had done her makeup, bringing out the color in her eyes and darkening the usual blush on her face. She was also clearly very nervous as she quickly strode up to me, clearing the distance between us until she was within arm's length.

"Penny… Wh-What-"

"Alder!" She manages out quickly, looking at my chest for a minute, before turning her gaze up to my eyes, "Do you perhaps… Want to do me the great favor of going to the coming dance with me?"

If I wasn't blushing before, I certainly started to in that moment. I could feel the heat radiating off my face, just like when she kissed me. As she looked me in the eyes I could see the genuine hope and affection that lay behind them. She may have been an android, but I had never seen someone so perfectly human prior to that moment.

"...Yes, yes I will."

Penny launched herself at me, quickly closing the gap between us and wrapping her arms around me like she had done several times before. She kissed me again as I heard team RWBY cheer, and the fireworks began to erupt in my chest again all the same as she shut her eyes. This time, I shut my own and wrapped my arms around her, returning the kiss.

It continued for almost a minute, before we pulled away and the team came up to congratulate Penny and I. Penny was very happy, that was for sure, and I supposed I was as well, I just wasn't sure how I was supposed to react in general. I'd never exactly been in a relationship before…

Oh well, I'd figure it out I was sure.

* * *

After some congratulating and well wishing, Penny and I parted from the others and started back to the dorm. We weren't really saying anything, just holding hands and enjoying each other's company.

Of course that didn't last, as Ozpin appeared from around one of the corners, "Mr. Saar, I need to speak with you."

Sighing, I nod, "Can I bring Penny?"

"Not this time."

That concerned me, but Penny gave me a reassuring look, so I followed Ozpin off towards his office.

Once we got there, Ozpin made sure to lock the door this time behind us before he walked to his desk and beckoned me to follow. I did so, and sat down across from him once we both got there. "What did you need, Headmaster?"

"We need to talk about you and Penny."

I didn't like that tone in his voice… "What about it?"

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to continue the path you're going with her."

What.

"What are you talking about, Headmaster?"

"Your relationship, come now. I see a lot more than you think." He responds, idly looking into his coffee mug as he holds it.

"Bullshit, professor!" My tone sharpens, "Why shouldn't I be with her?"

"Keep calm, Mr. Saar." Ozpin was clearly not interested in my emotions, "Your destiny is very different from hers, from anyone else's. I'm warning you that staying with her will only lead to sadness on both parts. You are on a path to be a world renowned defender. Penny is a good girl, but her star will not fly so high."

"Who are you to say?" I respond, leaning forward in my chair and narrowing my eyes, "If I want her in my life then you have no right to tell me otherwise. Who's to say I can't have her by my side when I meet whatever my destiny is?"

"I know what that path leads to, young man!" Ozpin retorts, he seemed to be getting annoyed or otherwise upset now, it was hard to tell which. He set his mug down, "I'm telling you this not because I want to restrict you, but because I know where this will lead if you continue!"

"How do you know so much?!" I retort, standing up and finally having enough of his cryptic answers, "Who died and made you King of Vale?! What god came down and gave you the right to tell me what to do?! Who the hell ARE you, Ozpin?!" I grit my teeth, turned, and started walking away, "I'm done listening to you! I'll make my own path! _Without you__**!**_"

"You wish to know the truth?!" He raises his voice, and I hear him stand and start to follow me, "Do you think you're honestly able to handle the reality of the world you live in?!"

"How the hell can you ask me that?" I turned around, finding him already on the other side of his desk, "You talk on and on about how I'm destined to be some great defender, some hero that will save the world or some shit, but you don't _tell _me anything! So unless you start giving me answers, I'm fucking DONE with your shit!"

"You want answers?" He asked, his voice growing dark as he walks towards me, "Fine. I'll give you the answer. You want to know why I talk about you the way I do? Why I try and guide you so adamantly? Because the life you've lived up until Beacon is a lie! Because you're not an ordinary child. You're MY child!"

My eyes widened and I was immediately shocked and confused, "What?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, "That's not true." I knew I was adopted, but there was no way…

Ozpin walked closer and took off his glasses, his amber-colored eyes stared deeply at mine. I saw no hint that he was lying in his face, "Look into my eyes, Alder. Know that I would never lie about this. Behold this."

He slammed his cane into the ground and suddenly a fly that was flying past froze in place, the seconds on the clock ceased. "This is no semblance, this is magic. I can show you more of my power, if I need to."

Time resumed shortly afterward and I rubbed my forehead, stumbling backward and almost falling, but I managed to catch myself on the wall. I couldn't deny the facts in front of me, nor did I have any reason to believe Ozpin was lying. "You… You…"

I backed away from him, "You stay away from me!" I was hurt, angry, upset and betrayed, with a dash of confusion. The recipe for a total meltdown.

"Alder…"

"Enough!" I respond, turn and leaving, "I've had enough!" I left before Ozpin could respond. I knew he could have chased me, he was much faster than I was, but he didn't.

I needed to get away from Beacon. I needed… I needed air, non-Beacon air. Away from how much everything has changed in just the span of a few months.

* * *

After leaving the campus and finding my way to the city, I wandered around town with no particular destination in mind. Eventually, however, I found myself back…

Home.

How long had I been walking to end up back here? I guess my feet took me to the one place I really wanted to be right now.

I stood staring at my home, a simple two-story suburban affair my dad had bought before I was even in the picture.

My dad…

The lights were on, I guessed it was about dinner time right now. I could see the silhouettes of my parents walking around, but the curtains were drawn, so they couldn't see me.

I felt my feet start to guide me forward without much input from the rest of me, and soon I was staring directly at the door. Feeling numb, I ring the doorbell.

"Mabel, could you get the door?" I heard my dad on the other side.

"Yep yep yep." My mom replied with her usual, unyieldingly spirited tone. She opened the door, and when she laid her eyes on me she gasped, "Alder! My baby!" She promptly wrapped me in a hug and pulled me inside, "What are you doing here?" She asked, but she was clearly overjoyed to see me regardless of her curiosity.

"Just- Thought I'd come visit!" I lied, I actually really had no idea why I was here.

"We have dinner on the table, I'll make you a plate!" My mom let me go and started about fixing a plate, while my dad was clearly surprised, "We didn't expect to see you for awhile, did something happen?"

My dad wasn't an overly affectionate guy, but I could tell he was worried. I had to put his troubles to rest, "Nothing's wrong." Another lie. "I just had some time and wanted to come see you guys. Everything moves so fast at Beacon… I wanted to get away from it for a night." That much was true.

"Well take a seat, then. How is Beacon?"

I walk over and take a seat as Mom sat the plate in front of me and filled a glass with some juice, "It's… It's busy. Everything is so much more complicated than things were at Tower."

As my mom sits down, my dad looks at her and they both nod at each other. My dad speaks, "That's completely normal. You're growing into an adult, soon you'll be eighteen! Beacon is meant to prepare you for life beyond the city. You'll grow and soon you'll find your place in the world."

My place in the world… I nodded dumbly, staring at my food. "I suppose you're right."

"Did you learn anything new about your… Semblance?" Mom asked curiously, reaching for the right word.

"It's… It's unique." I respond, not sure if I should tell them much more. What good would it do for them to know? It'd just make them a target. "I have good teachers who are helping me learn to use it."

"That's great!" Dad responded, "Can you show us an example?"

I think for a moment, "Nothing big, but…" I channel some energy, and begin to have magical streams of light dance in my hand, "I'm learning to control it better, with time I think I'll have it completely under control."

My parents gained a shared look of fascination on their faces. They had seen me do this kind of thing before, but it was never at the level of control I had now, able to make them dance in my hand in a variety of different aerial maneuvers.

"Impressive." My dad smiled. "Keep that up, are you going to be in the Vytal festival?"

I hummed, I hadn't really thought about that, despite it being so close at hand. "I hope so." Such a high profile event would be the worst for me trying to keep my secret, but it would do great things for others, and I could just opt out of any of the non-team fights. "I'm not sure yet."

My parents accepted that and showed optimism for the future, and then we continued on eating our dinner. I avoided any questions that might come too close to me bringing up what really had me coming back here, as I really didn't want to think about it too much. I asked to stay the night, and they of course accepted.

However, once I got to my room and sat on my bed, there was a knock on my door. "Yes?" I asked as I looked at the door.

My dad opened the door, "Hey kid, I wanted to talk to you." He came over and sat on the bed next to me.

"About?" I asked, probably not looking 100% right now. Then again, I don't think I'd been at 100% once since I came to Beacon.

"Well… You." He patted me on the back, "I know you're stressed, and I know you're not telling us exactly why…"

My dad always was perceptive…

"But I'm not going to ask." He continued, "We all have things we need to take care of ourselves, but I wanted to know if you wanted to… I dunno, vent?"

"I…" I stopped myself for a minute, the hesitance Ozpin drilled into my came to the surface, but I was so weighed down by stress, it was drowned in a flood of words, "...Things have changed so much. I'm… I just went to Beacon to become a normal huntsmen, but my power… Dad, it's not normal. People want me dead for it, or they want to use me… I don't know who I can trust."

I looked at my dad as I spoke, and he was silent, taking in everything. Meanwhile, I felt tears beginning to form as the tidal wave of emotion manifested as tears. "Everyone is telling me that they want me to be these great things, these big… Scary things. A hero? A messiah? I'm not… I'm not any of those things! I'm just…"

I bury my face in my hands, "I'm just Alder…"

My old man stood up, and put his hands on my shoulders, "Alder… Look at me."

I raised my tear-stricken face to meet his gaze.

His soft gaze looked directly into my soul, "...You're right. You're not ordinary. But you need to keep in mind… You should only ever be what _you _want to be. Not what other people want you to be. If you want to drop out and go to a normal school… You know your mom and I would support you one-hundred percent."

I can't say I hadn't thought about it… But…

"I… Can't. Not now, anyway…"

"Why?"

"...Too many people are depending on me, and if I stopped now, not only would it disappoint a lot of people, but it would be letting some very bad people win."

Grimly, my dad nodded.

"I just… Wish I could be normal."

"Well, son… You know that normal is just a state of mind. You can't think like an ordinary man… So you need to make the extraordinary, ordinary. You know?"

"...I think I get it." I dried my tears, "Thank you."

"Anytime, Alder. Just remember, we're always here for you." He stepped back, "I'll see you in the morning, okay? Goodnight son."

"Night, dad."

With that, he left, and left me with a lot to think about.

As I got comfortable in bed, I stared at my ceiling fan.

Think extraordinary, huh?

...Guess I had to try, or else I would break under the weight of the world.


End file.
